High Stakes
by Mignonne422
Summary: AU. Yaoi. When the stakes of a poker game escalate, will the boys be willing to risk everything for what they really want or will they lose it all?
1. High Stakes

"Straight flush. Mr. Uchiha wins."

Itachi manifested like an apparition at his elbow. He looked down at his little brother, amused and approving, before he leaned down to talk to the man that had gambled away a small fortune at the casino's private table.

"Mr. Orochimaru, thank you for playing with us this evening. You played very well. Is there anything the Sharingan Casino can offer you for the remainder of your stay?"

Slowly and diplomatically, Itachi was herding the man away from the table and the private room. With a few more words, he let the man be led away by his bespectacled lackey. Personally, he was glad Sasuke had beaten the man. He was a slimy snake as far as Itachi was concerned. He'd been monitored closely, just in case he tried anything.

He hadn't. At least nothing more than eyeballing his little brother like he was a tasty delicacy to be sampled and making a few obvious passes that had been summarily rejected. He smirked in traditional Uchiha fashion at that thought and returned to the last two players left at the table.

"Mr. Uzumaki, Sasuke. You will have a half hour break before the game continues, if you choose to continue?" They would, he knew. They'd been giving each other death glares in between hands when they hadn't been trading insults.

He didn't know what had gotten into Sasuke. Normally, the younger Uchiha didn't deem anyone worthy of more than the occasional 'hn' and a glare or two. But with the blond, there'd been tension since he'd introduced them. It was becoming very interesting.

"Of course we'll continue, Itachi." That was Sasuke's calm, dignified response.

"Definitely! I'm not losing to this teme." The more vocal response corresponded to the enthusiastic blond.

"Very well then. The Sharingan Casino is very pleased to have you Mr. Uzumaki. Please enjoy your short break and I will return with your dealer in a half hour. Sasuke." With that Itachi walked away, leaving his little brother in charge of the blond until he returned.

Sasuke nodded to his brother as he left and stood from his chair, walking to the bar taking up a large corner of the VIP room. Behind him, Naruto transferred himself from one of the table chairs to plop unceremoniously into one of the large, leather lounge chairs.

"Did you want anything, Uzumaki?" Sasuke asked from the bar as he placed his order for a dry, Grey Goose martini with the bartender.

A blond head turned, wild golden spikes falling haphazardly around it and cerulean eyes met his onyx gaze. They studied him for a second before a quick grin split the features, making the thin scars he'd noticed on the tanned cheeks earlier look even more like whiskers than he'd originally thought. There was something vaguely fox-like about the blond when he smiled, Sasuke thought.

Then again, it could be the tight black tee with a very orange nine tailed fox demon screened on it. He didn't even have words for what he thought of that as a fashion statement.

"Jack and coke is fine."

Sasuke nodded and repeated the order to the bartender.

With his back to him, Naruto studied the brunette. He'd decided he was a prissy ice princess, too used to getting his way. So naturally, he figured it was his place to ruffle some of those perfectly groomed Uchiha feathers. So far, he was enjoying it terribly.

Not to mention the bastard was sexy as hell, in that angst-ridden, tall, dark and beautifully handsome sort of way. All that pale, milky skin unmarred by even a single freckle and dark, midnight black-blue locks that fell in long bangs around that angular face. He was fairly sure the Uchiha's cheekbones could cut glass, and were the envy of supermodels around the world, but the angles were softened by the nearly full lips that were a peachy-pink color.

And then there were those eyes. Bottomless, obsidian pools a person could surely get lost in if they weren't careful. He wondered how many unsuspecting fools had been hypnotized by those Uchiha eyes. They were by far the bastard's best feature.

Though that long, lean body poured into designer clothes that showcased him and his tight, round ass to perfection, and the self-confidence and icy facade the raven wore like a cloak definitely exuded their own brand of sex appeal. Yeah. The bastard was sexy. And mysterious. And sexy.

And for some unknown reason, Naruto found himself wanting to know more.

"Hey, let's make this interesting, Uchiha" Naruto voiced up to the dark eyed man as Sasuke walked back from the bar and stood across from him.

Sasuke raised a brow at the blond, staring at him intently.

"Hn. What do you propose, dead-last?"

Naruto felt his temper spike at the insult, but bit back his retort. Instead he shot the Uchiha a calculating grin and took his drink from the manicured hand, letting his fingers linger just a bit longer than necessary.

"Hmm…If I win…which I will, teme," Naruto interjected cockily.

"Hn." There went the eyebrow again, accompanied with a look that clearly implied Naruto was delusional.

"A date. You and me."

"No."

The retort was immediate and automatic and _cold_. It booked no room for argument.

Clearly, Sasuke was not amused by his challenge. Blue eyes narrowed speculatively at the Uchiha.

He wondered briefly if the spark of attraction that had occurred earlier when they'd been introduced had been totally one sided on his part. No…he was sure he'd seen a flash of…interest…in those dark eyes before they'd shut down into blank, emotionless pools of obsidian. He was fairly certain he'd never met anyone with a better poker face. He really wanted to watch it fall apart and reveal the enigma that was Sasuke Uchiha to him.

No…he wouldn't give up yet.

Naruto leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. The muscles there bunched and played under that caramel skin enticingly.

"Scared, teme?"

"Hn." The scowl returned. "Why would I be scared of an idiot like you?"

Naruto wondered briefly what that scowl would taste like beneath his lips.

"I don't know, teme. Maybe 'cause you want my body?" Toned, tanned arms moved from across his chest to rest behind his neck. Naruto slid a little ways forward on the chair, stretching out his legs, crossing his ankles, until he was practically reclining on it, the picture of relaxation.

The thin material of the cotton tee tightened across a broad chest at the move, hugging well defined pectoral muscles. From the way those onyx eyes sharpened and lingered just a little too long on his chest before moving back up to meet his blue gaze, Naruto knew he looked good.

A cat with a bowl full of cream couldn't have rivaled the smile of sensual satisfaction on his face. _Oh yeah, point for me._

That smile irked him. Sasuke felt it was his duty to wipe that smug look off the blond's face even if he'd practically conceded the point anyway. He really did have a nice chest, broad and sculpted very nicely if that tee shirt was any indication. He wondered what'd it feel like to be pinned down to a mattress by that chest…the thought stopped him cold.

What the hell was wrong with him? He was Sasuke Uchiha. _The_ Sasuke Uchiha. People fantasized about _him_,not the other way around. Exactly. He just had to remind the blond idiot smiling at him of that.

"Hn. Have to resort to bets to get a date, Uzumaki?"

Naruto chuckled, noting that he _was_ getting a date. Or at least the chance to win one if his luck held. He sat up a little straighter.

"Not usually, no. But…" Cerulean eyes roamed slowly down and gradually back up the entire length of the lean body before him.

He didn't leer or ogle Sasuke as so many others did when they looked at him. Those eyes just looked, and looked honestly, appreciatively, at his body. They saw **him** _Sasuke._ Not his last name, not his money or designer clothes. Just him.

He fought the instinct to cross his arms protectively across his chest. For some reason he felt more exposed under those honest eyes than he'd ever felt from the gazes he knew were mentally undressing him.

Naruto made no attempts to hide the fact that he was looking at the raven, that he found him beautiful…sexy…perfect. When he met the onyx gaze once more Naruto didn't try to hide the truth in his eyes. Or the arousal.

He reached for the glass beside him, not looking away from those dark as midnight eyes, and took a sip of the strong, burning liquid, hoping it would soothe his suddenly dry throat. When he spoke again, his voice was low and husky, his words, soft.

"You could drive a man to sin, _Sasuke_"

Naruto rolled the name around on his tongue like a piece of hard candy, finding it exceptionally delectable. He was curious to find out if the man it belonged to would taste just as good.

Sasuke fought a shiver as the sound of his name was practically purred by the blond's rich, whisky voice. He'd never thought his name could sound so…erotic.

"And if I win, what do I get, _Naruto_?"

His own voice sounded soft, almost breathy, and Sasuke wasn't quite sure why. He tried to scowl but his lips felt dry. Unconsciously, he let his tongue trail over them as he watched the blond, waiting for a response.

Oh man, he could totally get used to hearing his name come from those lips in that voice. That was one of the sexiest fucking thing he'd ever heard. He bet the bastard gave great phone sex. And that tongue? _Fuck._ He felt Jr. jump in agreement, making him very aware of just how tight his jeans were.

"Mmm…say my name like that again, baby, and I'll give you anything you want. Name it..."

Sasuke's eyebrows shot up at that. _Baby?_ What the..? Who did the blond think he was talking to? Sasuke was about to call the blond out for calling him…_that_…when the rest of the sentence sunk in. _Anything I want? Oh, dobe…you shouldn't show your tells so soon… I could have fun with this…_

"_Na..ru..to.._" Sasuke breathed, prolonging each syllable, as he watched the blond.

Naruto wondered if it was possible to come from just the sound of a voice. He had a strong suspicion it was possible, if the way he was feeling was any indication. Gods. He had to close his eyes to suppress the moan that nearly escaped as he'd heard that prissy voice go all soft and throaty around his name once more.

Oh man, he had to get that voice into bed. That was his new mission in life. Yes. He wanted to hear all the other noises that sexy as fuck voice could make. There were definitely secrets the bastard was hiding in the ice-princess façade. Like the fact he was a fucking tease.

If it was possible, he was sure his cock hardened even more. It was bordering on painful. And that was only from thinking about the brunette. Oh yeah. He had to get the bastard into bed. Or a closet. Or the wall, the floor, the table…Naruto groaned at his thoughts.

Sasuke watched as thoughts and emotions swirled in those sapphire eyes. Lust, curiosity, lust, excitement, frustration, lust…He'd never seen eyes so open and expressive. He was fascinated. And more than a little aroused as lust pooled in those sky blue pools once more.

He suddenly felt as sexy and gorgeous and stunning as everyone had always told him he was. He'd never believed the fawning groupies, knowing their praise wasn't born of sincerity so much as the need to claim him as a prize.

But right now, with the blond's gaze fixated on him so intently, telling him without words that he was all those things and more, he felt the truth of the compliments for the first time in his life. And the sudden realization of how badly he'd wanted that left him shaky. He looked away first, hating his sudden weakness.

"So…" Sasuke swallowed, realizing his throat had gone dry, before trying again. "So, **anything** I want, dobe? Does that mean you'd lose the hand, if I asked?"

Better. That didn't sound so breathy anymore, though it was still far from his usual cold voice.

Naruto's brows drew together. _What?_ He'd been so focused on thoughts of the brunette that the voice had surprised him. He tried to recall what they were supposed to be talking about, flipping back over their conversation. _Poker…bet…that voice saying his name...Oh yeah…wait…NO._

He grinned sheepishly as one hand went to rub the back of his neck. "Well not anything…"

"But you said _anything_." Something that felt strangely like a pout appeared on the Uchiha's lips. Except Uchiha's DO NOT pout. So it had to be something else. Yeah. Or so Sasuke reasoned.

Naruto didn't know whether to chuckle at the expression on Sasuke's face or groan with the desire to kiss the pouting lips. He opted for the former, fairly sure he'd receive a very unwelcome fist into his body if he tried the latter.

"Well, I meant _almost_ anything. I wasn't quite thinking clearly at the time. My mind was…wandering." And the places it had wandered to would be places Naruto wanted to visit again very soon. He wondered how to get Sasuke to actually make those places permanent memories and grinned when an idea struck him.

"But we can put 'anything' back on the table…_If_ you win, of course."

That grin. He hadn't trusted that shit eating grin for one second, but the words…well Sasuke loved nothing like a good challenge. Except maybe tomatoes. Mmm….But anyone that knew him would have told the blond he was a viciously competitive bastard. He smirked.

"That's dangerous, dobe. You could end up stripped naked and cuffed to a bed if you make such broad promises."

At those words, golden brows shot up to get lost in the falling bangs of the same color. Who'd have guessed the Uchiha was into that scene?

"Kinky, Uchiha. I think I like it. Deal."

Sasuke did that long, slow, blink…thing.

_Huh?_

And then the words suddenly pierced the fog the image of Naruto tied to his bed, _naked_, had produced and his eyes went saucer wide and a furious blush blossomed on his cheek—which he'd deny till his last breath, because he was _Sasuke Uchiha_, and he **didn't** blush—and he sputtered.

"What?! Kinky? No. That wasn't…I mean…what I meant was…No…"

And he had to stop, to breathe, because _Uchiha's_ did not stammer. They spoke clearly and concisely and never with more words than necessary.

"That wasn't what I was bargaining for, dobe." His voice came out calm, clear and icy. Perfect.

"Huh? But you just said so. So it's a deal. If I win, I get a date. If you win, I'll let you have your wicked way with my body."

Naruto's grin was so bright and so wide, it made Sasuke's cheeks hurt just to look at it. And it was definitely much too pleased. And yet he felt his lips twitching suspiciously into what could become a small smile if he didn't stop it soon.

"Man, Sasuke. With a deal like that you almost make me want to lose..."

And those words were like a bucket of cold water in Sasuke's face. _Almost make me want to lose…_Of course. The blond only wanted him for his body. That was all it was. It had nothing to do with him personally. It was just physical. He was just like the rest, wanting to claim Sasuke as a personal trophy. How foolish he'd been to think otherwise. Well, now he knew better. It didn't bother him. Really. The tightening in his chest certainly had nothing to do with disappointment.

But Naruto was more perceptive than people gave him credit for. Most people didn't look past the sunny looks and disarming smile and pinned him as a cute, but not too bright boy. For the most part he let them think what they wanted. But you couldn't be half as good at poker as he was if you didn't know how to read people. And he'd seen how the corners of Sasuke's eyes had tightened and his gaze had iced over at his words.

He wondered what exactly had offended the brunette in his comment and, on repeating it in his head, realized that he'd managed to cheapen the genuine attraction he felt for the man in front of him to something purely physical, not to be taken seriously. Not that he didn't feel a supernova sized physical attraction to the raven—he did—but, it was more than that. Naruto realized he'd liked watching Sasuke's jet-black eyes defrost and his guard come down as he'd teased him. He'd enjoyed, hell, he'd practically come in his jeans, from hearing Sasuke's voice lose the ice princess tone. And the blush and the pout…well he didn't quite have words for how cute the Uchiha had looked with them gracing his perfect alabaster features.

Exasperated, he sighed. Go figure he'd go and fall for a guy that had issues the size of Texas. Still, he had to fix this now, since he'd managed to fuck it up oh-so-perfectly.

"I said _almost,_ you bastard. Jeez..." Naruto could only hope the teasing insults would work.

They didn't.

Sasuke 'Hnn'ed and turned, walking to his seat at the card table. He pointedly ignored Naruto.

_Sensitive bastard_. Naruto sighed again and went to take his own seat at the table, smiling ruefully.

"Guess I'll just have to prove it to you, teme. I'm going to beat you. And I'm getting MY date."

Sasuke's eyes slid up from the deck he'd been shuffling absentmindedly to look at the blond from beneath his lashes. _He's just saying that. He doesn't really mean it, of course_. But the little starburst of hope couldn't be quashed so easily.

So Sasuke was determined to prove he'd been right about the blond. He'd win tonight and take the blond up to his room, wait, no. No…the blond wouldn't step foot inside his penthouse. He'd never taken anyone up there before. No, they'd go to one of the many rooms in the hotel. Sasuke wasn't delusional enough to tell himself he wasn't attracted to the blond on a purely physical level, so maybe, it wasn't so bad that their bet included meaningless sex. It wouldn't be the first time he'd partaken, and, Sasuke was sure, it probably wouldn't be the last time. He had needs after all. Even if he did his best to ignore them the majority of the time.

He glanced at his tasteful Rolex, wondering when they would start so he could get this over with.

As if by magic, the dealer appeared at their table, followed closely by Itachi. His aniki's presence only served to remind Sasuke of exactly who he was and strengthened his resolve.

Ever the perfect host, he watched Itachi turn to the blond, offering a perfect, manicured hand. He watched the darker, larger palm envelop his brother's almost delicate hand and shake before releasing it. Unknown to him, he was glaring at the sight.

Itachi, however, noticed, and fought a frown of his own. What, exactly, had gone on in here, in the last half hour? He'd have to go to the control room and review the tapes of the private, VIP tables. But first, he had to make sure his high roller was being taken care of.

"I hope you had a pleasant break, Mr. Uzumaki. If there is anything you need during your game or the rest of your stay, please don't hesitate to ask. We will find a way to accommodate you if possible. This is Ibiki. He will be dealing for the remainder of your game with Sasuke."

Naruto looked up the man presented and tried hard not to stare. Scars and marks decorated the stern, large man, making him look more like the head of security and less like a dealer, in his opinion. He was sure the man was an excellent dealer though. Those sharp, piercing eyes probably missed nothing that went on at his tables. He doubted anyone had ever successfully cheated under that knowing gaze.

Naruto was in fact, right. Ibiki was head of security for the casino, making him the ideal dealer for this match. No one would be able to say the game between the two players was going to be anything but fair with Ibiki at the table. Considering one of the players was the youngest heir of the Uchiha fortune and half owner of the casino, it was important that everyone was assured the game was not tampered with in favor of the house.

The blond nodded, smiling softly at the large man in greeting. His mind was too preoccupied with Sasuke and his issues and their impeding game for him to be his usual sunny self.

"The game is no-limits hold'em, gentlemen. Please place your bets."

And the game began.

Their eyes met across the table, blue burning into black burning into blue, determination and stubbornness written on the two faces.

Sasuke was determined to win and prove that the blond only wanted him for his body.

Naruto was determined to win and prove the stubborn bastard wrong.

He wouldn't, couldn't lose this game.

Absently, he dumped enough chips on the table to buy a car or two, matching Sasuke's bet and raising it slightly.

He glanced at his cards and watched the man across the table instead, his minds eye superimposing the perfectly composed figure before him with the unguarded, slightly flustered, almost smiling, memory of the raven. Their eyes met again.

No, he couldn't lose. There was too much riding on this

TBC


	2. Hearts & Daggers

Sasuke was winning.

And Naruto was pissed.

And scared.

Terrified, actually, that he was about to lose the best thing that he'd ever had in his life. Which didn't make any sense at all because he'd never had Sasuke to begin with, but emotions, he knew, defied logic.

Panic, like witches brew, was bursting over him in random little bubbles that were rising to the surface faster with every passing second, threatening to boil and spill over his throat in a scalding, ragged scream of rage and frustration.

He watched as another small tower of chips was dragged across the table and away from him when their fourth hand ended like the first two.

_Bastard!_

Blue eyes flicked to the figure across the table, drinking in the sight of ivory and midnight once more.

_Fucking beautiful bastard… _

He was a tableau of contrasts. Cream on black in stark relief. Sharp angles and soft lips. Strength masked behind pianist's hands.

Hands that were making his breath catch at the moment.

Sasuke could feel the blond staring at him again. He'd been staring since they'd started playing. Staring at him in that way that made him feel all vulnerable and exposed.

And he'd made the mistake of looking up to glare at the idiot blonde only to be paralyzed by the look in those piercing cerulean eyes. There was such _longing_ and awe in the look, as if he were staring at something he'd just realized was precious and important…

It left him temporarily stunned to see that look in Naruto's eyes directed at him. The 'baka, what are you staring at?' comment never made it past his lips.

And in that instant his body betrayed him, making his breath hitch and kicking his heart into double time for no reason. _What the hell?_

Sasuke thought maybe he was getting sick. Yes. That had to be it.

He'd been studiously avoiding eye contact with blond since. But that left everything else in the room victim to his vicious glare.

Currently it was fixed on the tower of chips he was dragging over to add to his pile.

But the dobe hadn't stopped staring yet. Sasuke could feel that piercing gaze, like a physical caress, on his hands. He felt his heartbeat skip.

_Damn it._ He hoped it was just one of those 24 hour bugs. He hated being sick.

He scowled harder.

Naruto watched, fascinated, as agile fingers slid up and over the column slowly, before gliding back down to the base and…falling away. He fought back a whimper.

_Stupid, lucky, fucking chips. _

And obviously, he was going off the deep end as he realized he was jealous of _poker chips_.

He remembered high school English class and having to read Romeo and Juliet. _O, that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek!_

He remembered snickering in the back of the room, thinking that Romeo guy was such a weirdo, cause who'd ever want to be a _glove_?

Right. He totally sympathized with the fictional love-struck man now.

Oh man, did he.

He'd watched those hands non stop since they'd started. He'd seen them move to push an errant bang away, in an unconscious gesture and flip cards over with practiced ease. He'd watched as they fingered the chips multiplying before them.

And he'd fervently wondered what those dexterous hands would do if they were let loose on his body.

_Oh kami…_he fought not to groan at the very vivid picture that blossomed in his mind's eye of all that pale skin sliding over his darker, tanner body, mimicking the way the bastard was handling the little towers of plastic money. He felt a bead of sweat slide down the back of his neck at the effort.

Oh yeah, he wanted those hands on him badly. Everywhere. He could gladly spend the rest of his life letting them discover his secrets.

Yeah. He had it bad. He definitely sympathized.

And it was definitely fucking up his concentration.

How could the damn bastard expect him to play decent poker when he'd just come to the conclusion that he might actually be falling, seriously falling for someone, for the first time in his life? And he was about to lose him just as quick.

Fuck.

He was screwed.

And that pissed him off, because Naruto Uzumaki did NOT give up. Ever. Especially not when it counted. And in the end, he almost always got what he wanted. Believe it. Exactly.

The thought settled the blonde somewhat. He could do this. He was only about half way down and he'd won countless of games before where the odds were worse.

He just had to calm down. To breathe. And to really avoid thinking about the consequences of not winning.

_Okay. Now…_

A small, mischievous and wicked grin danced on his lips.

_To win an Uchiha…_

Ibiki and Itachi, who'd returned to see how the game was progressing, shared a look across the table as the sixth hand was dealt. The tension between the blond and the raven was palpable and thick enough that a knife would never be enough to cut through it. Maybe a machete. Or a chainsaw.

In a move classically Uchiha, a single, black eyebrow arched questioningly.

Itachi was…intrigued.

Sure the blond was sexy in a careless-just-tumbled-out-bed-way, but there had been some divinely beautiful and amazingly hot people interested in Sasuke and his otouto hadn't so much as blinked in their direction. Whatever impossibly high bar Sasuke set as his standards hadn't ever been met before. And he wasn't sure how the blond had managed to do anything remotely interesting enough playing poker to interest his brother.

Hmmm…he really was going to have to review those tapes.

As he walked off assured that everything was fine and Naruto was being properly pampered he wondered if he'd find anything that would make his foolish little brother blush.

He watched Itachi's retreating back, scowling.

Did he _have_ to touch the dobe every time he came back to the table? Weren't the first _three_ handshakes enough?

Not that it mattered or anything. His brother could do what he wanted. He just didn't think a host had to be that friendly. It could give people the wrong impression. Like he liked the blond, or something. Of course, Sasuke could care less. It's not like he had dibs on the dobe. No. Of course not.

He didn't even notice the white knuckled grip he had on the edge of the table.

Naruto thought it was a good thing Itachi had his back to the table, considering the intensity of death glare his brother was shooting at him. He scratched his cheek absently, wondering what Itachi had done to piss Sasuke off. Whatever it was, it must have been bad.

Sasuke was still winning.

And now it was very clear that the blonde was sinking and sinking fast.

He was happy. Naturally. He hated to lose. Thus he had to be happy to be slowly but surely annihilating the dobe.

So he wondered briefly why his stupid scowl refused to turn into the condescending smirk it was supposed to be at the thought of winning.

Ibiki was…amused.

He'd found that people's playing style said a lot about them.

Sasuke played skillfully, methodically. His risks and betting were calculated to maximize gain and minimize loss. His face showed nothing. It was like watching a master pianist at work.

Naruto on the other hand, was an impulsive better and seemed to rely on luck more than skill. His face was open, smiling, eyes filling with emotions chasing each other. No one would have called it a poker face, but it seemed to work for the blond. His emotions and thoughts were so random that no pattern could be discerned. He was like a Pollock painting.

Even so, Ibiki missed nothing.

He'd watched the blond stare at the younger Uchiha, hunger and curiosity written plainly on his face. He'd watched Sasuke avoid looking at the blond at all cost, but sneaking peeks beneath his lashes anyway.

Something was definitely going on between those two, even though they had barely said ten words to each other not related to poker since he'd arrived. And even those had only been insults.

What had him narrowing his eyes and watching closer was the way Sasuke seemed to grow angrier the more he won. Usually by now he should have been gloating in that silent, patronizing way that seemed to be genetically inbred to the Uchiha's.

It was mystery. Mysteries always needed to be solved. He decided to solve it before the game ended. It would give him something to do.

Ibiki looked at them closely for more clues.

Naruto had watched the raven the last hour or so and noticed the bastard glared more at the cards right before he would inevitably sweep the pot into his growing pile. It seemed winning didn't agree with him.

Golden brows drew together.

And they called him an idiot? At least he wasn't standing in the way of his happiness.

If falling for irritating raven-haired enigmas that pissed you off so much you wanted to jump across the table and throttle them until they saw reason could be called happiness.

It could. He did. And what that said about his own mental state, was potentially worrisome.

Still, _he_ wasn't the one that needed saving from himself.

Annoyed, he reached for the Jack.

"Teme" was mumbled softly as he knocked back his drink.

Sasuke wondered briefly if the baka actually _was_ throwing the game—felt his chest tighten painfully—and dismissed the idea immediately. The dobe wasn't losing fast enough for that.

He really thought he was starting to come down with something. Heart palpitations and shortness of breath just weren't normal.

Hn.

Still, Naruto wasn't winning like he'd been earlier. There was none of that annoying bragging and cheerful name calling going on.

Sasuke estimated the blond had enough chips left for roughly two hands. He was trying not to think past that. He'd noticed his slacks became much more constrictive when he did.

He shook off the images clamoring for attention in his brain and rained in his icy, Uchiha control.

_So much for winning, dobe._

Sasuke almost caught himself sighing and went rigid. What the hell was wrong with him?

He was definitely going call for the Resort's staff physician to come check him out after the game.

He couldn't handle it anymore. Win or lose, this had to end now. The suspense, the waiting, was killing him.

He had a plan. Sort of. If one can call relying blindly on luck and instinct a plan.

When his pocket cards were dealt, he didn't even look at them.

Naruto had the button and placed his bet, going over the big blind.

Sasuke called. Raised. He matched.

Ibiki burned a card.

The flop was beautiful. A queen and ten of spades nestled an Ace of hearts.

Sasuke bet. He called.

Burn.

The turn. The 2 of hearts.

Naruto took it as a sign. It seemed to fit the situation. _Hearts and daggers._

Sasuke bet and raised once more.

So he did the only thing he could think of.

Before the river run of the seventh hand of the poker game that had been going on for almost an hour and a half, Naruto went all in.

His pile of white, red and black chips toppled onto the black velvet clothed table as he shoved them all into the middle. He watched as three black chips danced around a red one, spinning wildly in dizzying circles, before tiring out.

Black eyes snapped up at as the chips fell. "Baka, what…?"

Cerulean met obsidian, studying, weighing his next words, willing the brunette to understand.

"And I raise you a date." There, now he had bet everything

The onyx pools swirled. What was the idiot doing? He hadn't even looked at his cards yet! And he was betting…_that?_

"What?"

"I raise you a date, teme" Naruto repeated with a calm he did not feel. No, inside the panic was spreading at an alarming rate. He was on the verge of shaking.

But he trusted his instincts. Even if they went against everything he knew about playing poker.

The hypnotic eyes assessed him, guardedly, for a long moment.

He stared back, raising his own golden brow, a parody of the Uchiha's move.

_Scared, Sasuke?_

He knew the raven would interpret the taunt.

Sasuke did. And he wasn't going to let the idiot blond one up him. Even if the thought of going all in panicked him, maybe, just a tiny little bit.

He looked at his cards, looked at the pot. His eyes narrowed and the pretty pink lips thinned into a small, tight line.

"Fine," he spit out, voice clipped and cold, "I call. Including the night."

And that was as much as Sasuke was willing to reveal of their bet in front of Ibiki. Because what Ibiki heard, Itachi heard. And what Itachi heard, he used to torment Sasuke.

And while normally he would just ignore his aniki's subtle and not so subtle teasing, this night was one thing Sasuke just didn't relegated to veiled innuendos, because he was certain it would end with him winning. And why that was bittersweet—the idiot was kind of easy on the eyes, after all—was something he didn't want to think about.

He felt a headache coming on.

Ibiki stared from the blond to the raven impassively watching the exchange. And then the pieces fell into place and he had to admire the blond. He was brave. Or foolish.

Time would tell.

"Burn."

And then the river was dealt. The Jack of spades stared up at them with one dark eye.

_Fuck me_.

Ibiki's voice. "Sasuke? It's your call…"

Yeah. He knew that. He closed his eyes briefly as he flipped his cards.

The 8 and 9 of spades stared up at the table.

Dark lashes like thick lace slid slowly up as he forced himself to meet the blond's blue eyes. He saw shock there. And a little panic. He let himself sigh, just a little. He was right. Bittersweet.

"Straight flush." A voice intruded.

Maybe, in some tiny corner of his mind, he was disappointed. Maybe. But he'd had the last hour and half to steel himself for this result. And as expected, he'd won. Of course he had. He was an Uchiha. Uchiha's didn't lose. Hn. Why had he forgotten that?

"Tch. Way to win, dobe..."

His voice was soft, words sarcastic, tone almost bland. It looked like he was going to have a blond in his bed tonight. He could work with that. It wasn't like the idiot wasn't, well, _nice_ to look at or anything.

He eyed said blond. He was probably even nicer to look at out of that horrid excuse for a shirt. Visions of that shirt being ripped of tanned muscle to lay forgotten as skin and sheets slid and tangled, hands running over slick skin, tracing, teasing, as their bodies moved against each other flooded him suddenly. His body reacted hard and fast, forcing to suck in a breath as his body's entire supply of blood rerouted south.

He hissed. Fuck. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so aroused. Come to think of it, he couldn't remember _ever_ feeling so aroused.

What the hell had that idiot done to him?

Naruto looked away from Sasuke to the table. He still hadn't looked at his cards. The chances of beating the teme's flush were infinitesimally small though.

He wondered, as he flipped his cards over, if there was some way to salvage the relationship past tonight. Maybe if he showed Sasuke a really gre—

"Holy shit"

It was so soft, so shocked, and he was so absorbed in trying to figure out how to fix everything in his head, that Naruto almost didn't hear it.

He looked at Sasuke, wondering what happened, but Sasuke wasn't looking at him. He was looking down. At his hand. Holding his cards.

His eyes started sliding down, on auto pilot, until they too were staring at his cards.

They didn't make sense at first. It took a second to sink in. It hit him just as Ibiki spoke.

"Royal flush. Mr. Uzumaki wins."

"YEESSS!!!"

The King and Ace of spades fell from his hands, discarded as Naruto shot up from the table, knocking back the chair, pointing at Sasuke who looked paler than usual, if there were possible.

The dark clouds lifted instantly, as if they'd never been there.

"Ha! I told you, I'd beat you, Sasuke-teme!"

Man, he loved his instincts. He was buying them ramen, first thing!

And then that slow, cat ate the canary grin started spreading over his face, lighting it up with a sexy, predatory light as he stared at Sasuke.

He. Had. Won.

He leaned over the table, bringing his face close to the Uchiha's, very much invading his personal space. "Ne, teme?"

Obsidian, shocked still, met his gaze.

"What, dobe?"

_Mmm…This was going to be fun. _

"Well…since you matched my bet…and I _won_…You owe me **two** dates now…"

As expected those eyes flashed in anger.

"What?! What are you talking about? Don't be an idiot! No! No. Just no."

The blush spreading on those ivory cheeks really was damn cute, he thought. He tried not to snicker too hard at how flustered the Uchiha seemed to be now that the reality of the result had hit him.

"Heh, don't worry so much, _Sasuke_."

The voice was back. That melt-in-your-mouth voice saying his name like _that_ again….he'd almost had that in his bed…damn…

What had they been talking about? _Oh yeah…No._

Although Sasuke could admit he was protesting more on principle than anything else. He had started looking forward to what he'd thought the evening would bring. Just a little. Out of curiosity of course.

"… even let you arrange the first one, if you want?"

And Naruto finally let his laughter bubble up as the eyebrow raised and obsidian eyes flashed in anticipation at his words.

_Oh yeah, this was going to be fun._

TBC


	3. Undivided Attention

They say curiosity killed the cat.

Itachi now understood the truth of the phrase infinitely better than he had before he'd walked into this room.

He had returned to the control room after leaving Ibiki in charge of those two and their game.

He had requested to see the tape of the VIP room poker table with audio feed. He was very curious to find out what had transpired between his brother and the blond. There had to be something there to explain Sasuke's strange behavior.

Kisame, his pit boss and lover, had brought him his coffee—if you considered concoctions of caramel, mocha, sugar and excessive amounts of steamed milk and foam, coffee.

"I figured, boss, you might be wanting coffee right about now."

Itachi allowed himself the smallest smile, one he knew his lover would see reflected on the dark screen in front of them, before turning, face once again neutral, eyebrow arched elegantly.

"Just like you like it, boss. Hot, black and potent." Ah, his guilty secret. Only Kisame knew his weakness for caramel mochas. But the double meaning of the words was not lost on him.

Kisame's eyes glinted with impish delight at the innuendo, though his voice stayed smooth and even, betraying nothing.

Itachi always thought it incongruous that the hulking black man before him could have anything as small and playful as impish used to describe him, but really, it was the only word that fit his lover when he was in these moods.

"Thank you, Kisame." Their fingers brushed as the paper cup transferred hands, lingering slightly, before Kisame let go.

"No problem, boss." He waited until Itachi turned to the screens once more before whispering into the cascade of black silk, "It was my pleasure."

Yes. It obviously was. Itachi could feel that pleasure brushing just lightly against him. He 'hn'ed softly even as he felt the familiar coils of heat pooling low in his body.

Then the screen flickered to life rewound to the point where he'd been leading Orochimaru out of the room. Over his shoulder he heard Kisame's voice mutter "_slimy snake_" and had to smile at their parallel thoughts.

He'd lifted the steaming cup of coffee to his lips, sipping carefully at its hot contents while he watched.

His eyes widened slightly at the bet the blond was proposing, figuring his brother would shoot him down.

He did.

Except the blond seemed to have learned which buttons to push to get Sasuke…motivated. He'd never seen his brother flirt so much. And was he _pouting_?

A dark brow rose at that, amused and interested.

He had just taken another sip when the words from the screen caused him to swallow wrong, burn his tongue and choke.

_That's dangerous, dobe. You could end up stripped naked and cuffed to a bed if you make such broad promises._

"Wow, who knew your little brother was into tha—Boss? Hey Itachi, are you okay?"

Kisame grabbed the paper cup as his normally composed lover sputtered and coughed in shock and mild pain.

Concerned chocolate eyes peered into his bottomless black ones and he smiled, waving the incident away.

_Yes, who knew, otouto?_

Itachi smirked. He could have fun with this knowledge.

But damn it. His tongue still hurt.

That's what he got for being curious.

Sasuke had a goal.

Sasuke knew he had been cleverly maneuvered into this crazy bet with the blond. It would never have happened if Naruto hadn't so conveniently twisted his words around and tempted him with things he had no business being tempted by. But now the idiot had firmly planted the idea of his body, naked, sweating and willing to submit in his mind and, try as he might—which, admittedly, wasn't _all_ that hard—he just couldn't stop thinking about it. So Sasuke decided he'd just have to…satisfy the craving.

He'd always been very good at meeting goals he set for himself.

And Sasuke was never one to pass up opportunity once it presented itself.

And opportunity had presented itself in six foot plus of golden muscles and sparkling blue eyes not ten feet from where he stood letting Sasuke plan their first of two dates. And there would be two only because deeply instilled Uchiha honor would keep him from backing out of the second once he accomplished his goal. That, and he wouldn't let the moron have the pleasure of calling him a sore loser.

Said moron was currently all smiles and excited hand gestures as he recounted, rather dramatically, Sasuke thought, the events of the last few hands.

"And that's how I beat the teme!"

Sasuke's eyes rolled at that.

"Hn. You just got lucky dobe."

"Yeah, yeah. You're just saying that 'cause _you_ lost, ice princess." The blond shot back, teasingly.

Obsidian eyes widened, swirled with liquid rage, and then narrowed into threatening slits.

_What the hell? __**Him**__, a princess?_

Oh…he was so going to die. A slow and painful death. Yes. It was bad enough that he was practically flirting with Itachi and Itachi wasn't stopping or discouraging it—really, Itachi was being much too attentive—but the moron had the audacity—he couldn't believe it, wouldn't have if he hadn't been standing right there and heard it himself—to call him a _princess_? Him? _Sasuke Uchiha?_ Oh yes, death. Death was the solution. With a liberal dose of torture thrown in.

His genius mind had already come up with thirty-seven distinct possibilities that wouldn't require leaving the room. He took a step forward.

Naruto automatically took a step back, putting Itachi very conveniently between himself and the younger Uchiha.

Naruto thought about mentioning the fact that he hadn't known one could blush and scowl simultaneously and how hot Sasuke looked doing it, but he had no doubt the Uchiha was very capable of leaping over that leather couch and across the table to murder him where he stood. And he valued his life too much at the moment to bring that on.

He figured he needed it to nail that prickly teme and his perfect ass to the nearest hard surface in the future. And he sure as hell wasn't dying without having checked _that_ off his 'to do' list.

A couple thousand times at least.

Naruto was once again surprised at the fact that he was thinking in long-term terms—he'd never really been interested in long term before, so many people out there and so little time and all—but the raven had sparked something off in him. He was interested and eager to discover where it all would lead.

He had a sneaking suspicion however, that the angry Uchiha stalking towards him like a leopard on the hunt might have a few choice words to say about associating Naruto, long-term and himself in a sentence.

_Ah, well, I'll just have to bring him around to the idea. If that doesn't work, I'll just have to pound it into his thick skull. Or his body. Yeah. Pounding into his body sounds good too. _

Whisker-like scars stretched thin as a grin split the blond's features at the thought. He danced further around Itachi.

"Otouto. Control yourself." His voice was calm and clear, perfectly Uchiha-like, but it was all Itachi could do not to laugh at his little brother when those dark eyes boiling in indignant rage turned on him instead.

He knew Sasuke had heard worse and not blinked an eye. Normally, he didn't care at all what anyone thought of him, with few exceptions. He had about as much respect for others opinions as Itachi did. And yet, this one blond makes a disparaging comment and his little brother's feathers get all ruffled.

_Oh, he's gotten to under your skin and you don't even know it yet. Foolish little brother..._

Itachi's voice and the odd look his aniki gave him as he turned around and away from the blond managed to halt his forward progress. He wavered a second or two considering whether to continue his planned murder of the blond before his senses returned to him.

Hn. He wouldn't give the blond the satisfaction of killing him here and now. It would surely bring unwanted press to the Sharingan and the Uchiha name. No. He would leave it for another time. He could be patient when necessary.

"Hn. Whatever."

And he still had a goal to meet. Yes, about that…

He smirked, his mind already at work on a plan.

Noting his brother's sudden calm, Itachi figured it was safe once more to leave him with the blond. Sasuke could be unpredictable when provoked. But he'd get his little fun in before he left.

He dropped a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Alright, otouto, I'll be going now."

He glanced at the blond. "Enjoy your _winnings_, Naruto."

And then Itachi smirked and winked at Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Itachi smirking meant Itachi knew something. Which meant…shit. That meant Itachi _knew_.

Sasuke closed his eyes, mentally dropping his head into his hands and groaning, aware that he'd be living with the teasing for weeks to come.

He heard his brother's laughter as he walked away.

Fucking Itachi. Why did he always have to know everything?

The dobe was proving way more trouble than he was worth. Of course, to make a fair assessment of that Sasuke figured he had to get the idiot into bed. It really was the only way to make an informed decision. Yet another reason to meet his goal.

Sasuke looked up, seeing a small half smile on the blond's features at Itachi's words, noting that for the first time since his win those lips were staying still. And then shock seeped into his mind and libido as he realized the idiot had a mouth wet dreams were made of. His slacks tightened uncomfortably as he thought it was ridiculous how luscious and full that bottom lip looked peeking from beneath the pink, heart shaped top lip. That almost pout was practically begging to have teeth nip and sink into it, demanding entrance into that perfectly kissable mouth.

Unconsciously, the tip of his tongue slid over his own bottom lip, as he wondered if the blond tasted as untamed and effervescent as he seemed to be. And if Sasuke were to give in to this crazy urge he suddenly had to bite into that soft pout would Naruto say his name in that velvety bedroom voic—

"_Sasuke…"_

Yeah. Like that. They looked so soft up close.

_Say it again, dobe._

"Sasuke."

He watched those lips move, forming his name, and frowned.

_No, not like that idiot. You didn't use the voice._

"Sas-ke!"

The sound of his name and the hand waving in front of his eyes shattered his reverie. Sasuke snapped back into reality to find multi-faceted sapphires staring at him with amused concern, as if they knew where his thoughts had been.

Shocked and embarrassed to have been caught fantasizing, the Uchiha reacted the only way he knew how.

"Get the hell out of my personal space, usuratonkachi."

His voice dripped venom with the words as he forcibly shoved the slightly shorter man away from him. Sasuke was startled by the vehemence of his response, when what he'd really wanted to do was fist his hand in that fox tee and crush those lips beneath his own until he discovered the secret taste of Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto reeled back a little, catching his balance on the edge of the table. He looked at Sasuke, slight confusion clouding sky blue eyes.

_Damn Uchiha_.

"Teme! You didn't have to shove me, you know?"

The Uchiha had been spacing out completely…and Naruto just hadn't been able to resist coming closer, wondering what exactly would happen. He chuckled, deciding some teasing could only do the uptight prick some good.

Cerulean sparkled as he once again stepped closer to the brunette, leaning over to murmur against the pale ear peeking from midnight locks.

"I wasn't the one staring at my mouth like it was ramen…"

Sasuke's cheeks tinted crimson as those words ghosted over his ear, whether with anger, embarrassment or arousal though, even he couldn't tell.

"Hn."

Sasuke wondered what the blond was thinking about that had him grinning like an idiot. That smile was so bright and wide it actually looked it would hurt. _Tch. Dobe_.

"Speaking of which, I'm hungry!"

The change in topic would have left a lesser man spinning. But he saw it as the perfect opening to put his plan in motion. Sasuke smirked.

"About that…I figured we could have food sent up. There's this little place with a great view of the strip a few floors up."

Make that about twenty-two floors up inside his penthouse on the dining room table by the large bay window. It really did have a great view of the strip, though.

Naruto eyed the raven wearily, distrustful of the sudden cordiality. He was planning something, Naruto was sure of it. Should he trust it?

_Well I did want food. I wonder if they have ramen?_

"Do they have ramen? More specifically, miso ramen?"

_That_ was the only thing the blond had to say? Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"It can be arranged. I'll make the call, have the food waiting for us by the time we make it up."

He flipped open his phone, pushed a single button and met the excited cerulean gaze.

"Consider this our first date, dobe."

He would meet his goal.

The ride up had been uneventful, aside from Sasuke's constant insults and Naruto's constant flirting. Although at one point he'd manage to rile the brunette enough that he'd gotten angry enough to shove him again before he'd remembered where they were.

Naruto was fascinated and a little sorry to see the mask of perfect self-control slide over the porcelain features when that happened. The bastard really should really be shaken up on a regular basis, because damn, he looked sexy as hell all riled up brimming over with such intense emotion. He could just imagine all that intense and fiery energy applied in much more favorable circumstances, ones that preferably involved no clothes and lube.

His blood redirected immediately, his body showing its definite approval at the thought. He chuckled softly. If this kept up, his brain was going to start complaining of oxygen deprivation.

Sasuke was pleased to see the large silver trays arranged on the tastefully set dining room table as specified. He would sit at the head and Naruto would sit to his left so he'd have the promised view of the strip.

"Ne, teme…is this your place?" Naruto was a little surprised to see that the elevators had opened directly into another set of doors, which opened into a large foyer, beyond which looked to be home furnishings and not a restaurant as he'd expected.

Casually Sasuke toed off his shoes, dropping his keys into a little bowl on the console table by the door. He was trying not to think too hard on the fact that Naruto was the first person up here not closely associated with himself or Itachi.

"Yes. Is that a problem?" He asked softly, brow arched as he looked over his shoulder at Naruto who had yet to move from doorway.

"Nope. Just a pleasant surprise." _A very pleasant surprise._ He grinned at Sasuke.

For reasons unknown to him, he felt the corner of his mouth tilt up the tiniest bit in response to the blinding grin. The blond was practically vibrating energy in waves.

"Are you always this eager?" He asked before he could stop himself.

Naruto looked up from where he'd been sliding out of his boots, meeting the dark eyes focused on him and smiled mischievously, once again reminding Sasuke of a fox.

"About my favorite food and serially sexy guys with brooding eyes? Yep. Pretty much." And he winked at him.

Sasuke did another long, slow, blink…thing.

He didn't know why the compliment surprised him. Maybe it was just the fact that blond said it so nonchalantly, as if it were actually a universal truth. He looked up into the mirror in the hall—brooding eyes, really?—and noticed the faint hint of pink high on his cheeks.

Was he blushing again? That wasn't possible. One couldn't possibly blush that many times in one night. Maybe the temperature was too high. Had to be.

He quickly walked to the thermostat to check not wanting to dwell on those thoughts either.

Naruto raised a single brow as he watched the Uchiha. For all his prickly demeanor he sure blushed at the slightest things. Maybe there was hope for him yet. He chuckled softly as he crossed to lean on the wall by the brunette.

"So what are you having for dinner, teme?" He figured it was best not to mention the blush.

"Cedar plank salmon on a bed of asparagus" was the reply. Satisfied that he couldn't feel the warmth on his face any longer and resolute in his plan of action, he turned away from the thermostat towards the blond.

"Lets go eat, dobe. Wouldn't want your noodles to get soggy."

Naruto tried to hide the snort and bit back the comment on the tip of his tongue, knowing Sasuke had been talking about the ramen. He really didn't think that would ever be a problem around the Uchiha though.

His thoughts flew out of his brain however the second Sasuke lifted the cover off the serving tray and the smell of his beloved ramen reached him. He was in that chair with chopsticks in hand before Sasuke had finished seating himself.

He might have been amused, but ended up being shocked instead, as the whiskered man tore through the first bowl in minutes. The second bowl he'd ordered just in case vanished almost as quick.

He was barely a quarter of a way through his plate.

"Hey teme…" Naruto hadn't realized just _how_ hungry he was. He really shouldn't have skipped breakfast. "There's more right?"

"Um, no? But I can call and have some more sent up if you would like..."

"Yes!! Umm…think they can send up like….six bowls?"

Seriously? How much more could the dobe eat? His eyes must have betrayed his shock at the words, because Naruto spoke—more of a whine really—again.

"Whaaat? I'm a growing boy, you know! I need my fuel."

Sasuke would have liked to argue that there was really very little that was boyish about the blond, except maybe the attitude at times. But physically…No, he was definitely all MAN. And he was all his for the night.

His mouth tilted in another smirk as he picked up his phone and placed the order, which thankfully was delivered fairly quickly. Otherwise he might have lost half of _his_ dinner to the blond and his dexterous chopsticks. Though it had been a fun challenge to catch the random attacks on his plate.

And that worried him. He didn't, couldn't understand why the idiot got to him so easily. Somehow, when he hadn't noticed, that damn grin and those sincere blue eyes had slipped under his skin.

So naturally, what he needed to do was get the blond out of his system. The faster the better. And the only way to do that was to sleep with him. Yes. Then the novelty would wear off and his curiosity would be satisfied and he would be able to walk away peacefully as he'd always been able to do.

That was by far the best reason to meet his goal.

The thought emboldened him. Around bowl five or so, when Naruto had finished, he'd had a splash of the broth at the corner of his mouth. Before he could reach for his next bowl Sasuke had reached up and brushed his thumb over the shiny spot.

Naruto froze the second he felt that gentle touch, his eyes drifting to Sasuke, whose gaze was focused on his thumb. He felt it hesitate, just briefly, before it slid across his bottom lip with the faint taste of miso.

Obsidian eyes met his, daring him, as the digit paused on the middle of his lip. Without a second thought, his tongue darted out, flicking lightly against the digit.

Satisfied, the finger continued its slide to the other corner of his mouth before drawing away. Then he watched, fascinated, as Sasuke brought the thumb to his lips, dark gaze focused on him.

"Hn. Tastes…good…"

It was Naruto's turn to blink.

Fuck that was hot.

But what the hell? Where did that come from? The Uchiha hadn't initiated anything all evening, save for their date. What was he up to?

Gods, he didn't know, but if he kept it up Naruto wasn't sure he'd able to keep himself from ravaging the other. All night. And maybe into the next day.

Arrgh. There he went reducing it all to a physical thing again! But damn, it was hard not to want to get physical—very, _very_ physical—with Sasuke when he was teasing and hinting at darker pleasures like that.

And it hit him then, that that was exactly what Sasuke was trying to do. If it was just physical, it didn't matter. If it was physical, you didn't care. If he'd wanted just physical, why had he looked so hurt earlier?

The only logical answer was that he didn't. He liked this—whatever "this" was, between them—and it scared him. Hmph, he would have snorted at the thought of the icy bastard being scared, he certainly didn't look the type, but he recalled his own moment of mild panic earlier at the thought. And instead of just rolling with it, the teme was doing his best to throw up walls around himself.

He really was his own worst enemy.

And Naruto's at the moment, 'cause damn it, that meant they couldn't have sex. Fuck.

But, they _could_ play his little game for now. After all, turnabout was only fair play.

So he watched and waited as Sasuke took a sip of white wine, eyes still on his. When he lowered the crystal goblet, Naruto mirrored the raven's earlier action.

Sasuke's eye widened in surprise as the blond's thumb went to the corner of his lips and slowly dragged across his bottom lip. When it stopped in the center Naruto raised a blond brow at him, such a clear mirror of his own challenging look that Sasuke immediate replied. Except he didn't just lap at the invading thumb, he bit it softly.

_Raise you, dobe._ His eyes smirked for him.

Naruto's eyes slid half shut in pleasure at the teasing touch. He pulled his thumb away and brought it to his lips and he upped the ante, sucking on the digit suggestively, tasting wine and a hint of Sasuke as he watched the raven. There was definitely lust spiraling in those midnight pools.

"Yes…very tasty."

_Called and raised, teme. _

But he wasn't done. No.

He returned his thumb to Sasuke's mouth, rubbing across it once more, transferring his own taste back to those lips before pulling away. He held those dark eyes with his own. He felt the other's breath catch just slightly.

Oh fuck.

He bit his lip as desire whipped through him harshly, trying not to moan. His cock was crying for attention behind its denim confines, tortured by the various fantasies his brain kept formulating. He closed his eyes, realizing the worst part of the situation was that there wouldn't be any sex tonight. Not after that little stunt the bastard had tried to pull when he'd mentioned almost wanting to lose the bet.

Damn teme and his damn issues.

The problem, he decided, was that everything came too easily to Sasuke. With his looks and his money the world was at his fingertips. He didn't doubt for one second that the Uchiha could have an array of willing bed partners if he just snapped his fingers. He wondered briefly if anyone had ever turned him down before.

_Nah. Bastard was way too sexy for his own good. _

That's exactly what Sasuke needed. A good challenge for once. From what he'd seen, the teme was ruthlessly competitive, but if everything kept being so easy for the raven he'd never appreciate having it as much. The chase definitely added value to the prize.

Naruto was of the school that the things worth having in life were usually the hardest to get. And they had a tendency to cause all sorts of trouble and headaches in the process of acquiring. With that logic and the grief he'd already caused him, the bastard should be worth his weight in gold and then some.

Naruto chuckled softly, thinking that maybe he should invest in painkillers. He shook his head, sending golden strands dancing around him lightly and picked up his chopsticks.

He need to finish eating. He knew that until he ate, he wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything for long. And he had the very real suspicion that resisting Sasuke Uchiha would require his undivided attention.

TBC


	4. Dangerous Games

_Breathe. _

He did. It didn't help.

_Breathe again._

Okay. He took in another deep, steady breath, oxygenating his cells, hoping that would help soothe his frayed nerves.

No. Still not helping.

After his third deep breath, Sasuke was trying his best not to outright growl at the blond.

_Baka. Dobe. Idiot._

He stood in his kitchen, gripping the edge of the island, glaring at the stack of ramen bowls he'd placed there. Every advance he'd made on the moron through the rest of dinner had been ignored or responded to in an infuriatingly platonic manner since he'd rubbed his thumb across that kissable bottom lip.

What the hell had happened to the flirtatious blond?

He wasn't stupid—quite the opposite actually. He could see the way the blond looked at him, lust and desire eddying in his ridiculous cerulean eyes. The way he tensed, almost unnoticeably when he'd brush against him in the smallest way. But nothing, no amount of openings had gotten the idiot to get a fucking clue already!

_Honestly, who resisted strawberries and cream?_ He thought, his glare moving to the bowls with the remnants of their desert. It was practically a written invitation to fuck. Just RSVP here, please and thank you.

His phone went off, cutting into his mood, and he noticed from the caller ID it was Itachi. Only his brother could make a bad situation worse. He glared at his phone, willing it to catch fire and disintegrate so he wouldn't have to answer.

It didn't.

"What, Itachi?"

On the other end, Itachi's eyebrow raised at his brother's sharp tone.

"I was just calling to check on our high roller and my little brother. I wanted to make sure you had everything you…needed."

He didn't want to know how Itachi knew Naruto was in his penthouse. Itachi always just _knew_ things.

"We're fine. He's fine." _He's just being frustrating beyond words,_ was the thought he didn't add.

Obviously, that was not quite true. Something had his otouto riled up. Itachi smirked. That just made this more fun.

"Really? Well okay, but you know call if you need anything. More wine…some lube…maybe handcuffs?"

Sasuke sputtered, his entire face going redder than his favorite food.

"ITACHI! What the hell?!" Sasuke whisper-yelled, the sound coming out much higher than was normal.

The elder Uchiha just laughed on the other end, feeling immensely gratified by his brother's outrage.

"Maa, maa otouto. It's my job to make sure everyone enjoys themselves is all. Do call if you need anything. Have fun, little brother."

The line went dead.

Sasuke resisted the urge to scream in frustration. He didn't know whether to be more embarrassed his brother thought he would need the lube or angry at the fact that at the rate they were going he wouldn't get a chance to use the damn stuff.

It was a petty impulse he knew, but the rest of that damn bottle of wine looked really fucking tempting right now. And the fact that he was cursing, even in his own mind, told him something was wrong.

Who the fuck did the blond think he was? Didn't he know he was in _Sasuke Uchiha's_ penthouse? That there were enough women AND men to fill half the rooms in the resort that would kill, KILL, to be in his position? And here Sasuke was practically offering the idiot the chance of a lifetime and the dobe wasn't taking it?!

Well he wasn't having it. Hell no. He was Sasuke fucking Uchiha for god's sake! And if he wanted something, he was damn well going to get it and no idiot blond was going to stand in his way. Exactly.

He stalked out of the kitchen eyes dark with anger and frustrated arousal, lips drawn in a thin line.

Naruto was pretty sure he'd never seen any single human being look so unbelievably fuckable.

And then those eyes turned on him, fixing him with the full weight of their stare and the steely determination to fulfill that raging, bubbling need whirling dizzyingly in the bottomless obsidian.

He watched, hypnotized by those eyes—that was some bizarre sort of power, right?—as Sasuke began advancing towards him. Each step the brunet took towards him sucked a little more air out of the room.

He couldn't look away. _He_ was drawing closer. Entranced he saw the darting pink of a tongue. He couldn't breathe. _He_ was so close. If he lifted his hand, he could just reach those long, pale fingers...

A slow, satisfied smirk starting sliding across Sasuke's features. He was just three steps from the blond and the raw desire written in those sapphire eyes couldn't be ignored. That bottom lip would be his in just two more steps…

And at that second Naruto remembered that he wasn't supposed to be allowing this to happen and jumped up from his chair, startling himself and Sasuke, whose eyes widened incredulously at the whiskered man suddenly standing before him.

"Ummm…How about the tour, teme?! You haven't shown me this place yet." Naruto's words sounded rushed even to _his_ ears as he walked rather rapidly back into the living room they'd crossed through earlier.

_Fuck that was close. _His heart was pounding and his cock was crying in agreement. He'd been milliseconds from shoving the Uchiha onto the table and forcibly exploring what that pink teasing tongue tasted like. _Get a hold of yourself, Naruto. _

_Breathe._

Sasuke's eyes were still wide from the suddenness of the last few seconds. _What the hell?!_ The blond had just been sitting there, looking all hot and needy and then poof! He was practically bolting from the room.

He fought the need to snap at the blond for his idiocy, for his mixed signals, for being so damn appealing in general, but restrained himself.

_I am an Uchiha. Uchiha's do not lose control. __**I**__ will not lose control. I. Will. NOT. Lose. Control. I am an Uchiha…_

He chanted the litany in his head as he took a few precious seconds to regain his composure. It calmed him somewhat. He felt it was for the safety of the blond that he take these seconds, else he might be tempted to throttle the idiot for being, well, an idiot.

_Baka. Dobe. Moron._

"Fine. Follow me, dobe." That sounded remarkably civil and not in the least bit like a growl. He was almost—only almost—surprised. He should probably think of more insults to call the blond if they were going to be the only thing him helping him retain his not-so-perfect-yet calm.

Naruto took in the smooth, elegant lines of the distinctly masculine furniture noting the subtle, understated wealth. The simple, but classy décor very clearly said _old money_.

He followed Sasuke's tour around the spacious penthouse, paying more attention to the enticing way the grey material of those designer slacks hugged the taut curves of the brunet's ass as he walked than he did to the layout. It fascinated him the way the muscles contracted and released as the lean man moved around and it was all he could do not to reach over and palm that sexy ass.

His cock protested his decision adamantly, jumping hard enough to strike denim, making him hiss. Shaggy blond locks fell over his face as he turned his gaze downward to lecture sternly.

_Down boy. Down._ _We're trying not to scare off the ice princess, remember?_

"…is the bedroom. There's a balcony through the French doors there, it looks out over the strip. Same view as the dining room." He heard Sasuke finish softly.

Naruto was sure it was, yep, and he'd make his way over there to check it out for himself…eventually. At the moment though, at the moment he couldn't tear his eyes away from the ocean of navy blue—was that silk?—dominating the center of the spacious room.

Kami-sama, that bed was HUGE. It put California Kings to shame. _It has to be custom made_, he thought; it was practically a playground. Oh gods, there was so much room to, well…_play_…in.

It was so easy to imagine playing with Sasuke on that spread of silk, ivory skin in relief against the dark colors, flushed and hard with arousal as they tumble and roll over the expanse of that bed, touching, tasting, taking...

A whimper-like sound almost escaped his lips. Thoughts like that were so not helping his resolution. Shit! _Think of something else, Naruto. Quick, think of something else!_

Reluctantly he tore his gaze from the bed—he was sure he'd be having fantasies about the bed and its owner for some time to come—and looked around the room, trying to find something safer to focus on.

Snowy walls wrapped the room contrasting with the sleek ebony furniture. By the French doors was a small, elegant table and two plush, inviting chairs. Over on that wall he could see a partially open door leading to…a walk-in closet? He walked a little closer. Yeah. That's what it was. The thick, plush carpet beneath his feet absorbed all sounds of his movement and covered the room from wall to wall.

It was so soft, you could have rolled around on it. And that was all Naruto's brain needed to remind him of his earlier thoughts concerning Sasuke and beds…and closets…and walls…and tables…and floors, definitely floors, especially ridiculously soft carpeted floors that muffled sound.

He licked his lips, his breathing labored, just slightly, at the thoughts. He was fighting himself into a corner. There wasn't anything in this penthouse, _Sasuke's penthouse_, that his brain couldn't somehow associate with getting Sasuke naked and fucking him senseless.

God, he really was a pervert. He really obviously was.

Damn the idiots that had raised him.

Naruto again looked around almost wildly to find something not inherently sexual to focus on. He was getting desperate. This was important damn it, he needed to—

He needed to not have met Sasuke's gaze.

Too late.

He turned, his eyes falling on the Uchiha, who was now making his way towards him. For some reason he was reminded of a big jungle cat, all sleek and dark and dangerous, hunting his prey. Naruto didn't know when he'd become the hunted instead of the hunter, but the molten desire he saw in Sauske's eyes made him feel trapped, helpless and unaccountably hard.

His heartbeat was erratic, thumping so hard in his chest he feared his ribs would break. The blood was rushing in his ears as he fought his every instinct that told him to fight or flee. Couldn't Sasuke feel it?

Sasuke could. On some deep, instinctual level he could taste the blond's arousal and the anxiety that chased it. For some reason, some reason he couldn't explain, that made it all the sweeter. He'd never felt so powerful and wild from wanting someone before. It was like some carnal, animalistic predator was taking over. He licked his lips in anticipation, taking another step towards his prey

That same hypnotizing fascination spellbound him once more as Sasuke's eyes looked into his. He wasn't aware of time passing by until suddenly, he felt the lean, muscular warmth of the Uchiha pressing against him.

Before he could register the movement, Sasuke had leaned forward, catching an earlobe between his teeth.

Naruto shuddered.

"Sasuke…Sasuke stop. Oh god…you have to…mmm…I need to …stop..."

"Why?" It was purred, a little breathlessly in his ear. There was no way he was giving up his prize.

Naruto swallowed hard, trying to catch his breath despite that wonderful teasing tongue dancing over his ear.

"Because…ohhh… 'cause if I don't… ahhh!"

That tongue was going to be his undoing. The delicate trails it was painting on his earlobe were warming and cooling with each of Sasuke's breaths and had him almost vibrating with need

"Oh gods…if I don't, I'm not going to….hnnn…be able to stop later…"

Sasuke smirked against the tender skin of a tanned throat, lips dancing over the corded muscles there, eyes glinting with triumph in the moonlight.

"Then don't stop…"

And he sunk teeth into the muscled flesh.

Naruto screamed, body spasming, once, hard, in the arms of the taller man.

"Nggghhh! FUCK! "

Oh holy fuck. He felt like a live wire had been set directly on his skin, pumping arousal and need so strong it was crippling through him like electricity. He wanted to fall to his knees. He wanted to beg the brunet to do it again. He wanted…he wanted that sweet delicious rush of pleasure to shock him again.

"I want you, dobe…_Naruto…"_

Where did that come from? He hadn't known his voice could _do_ that, sound like _that_.

Oh god, he was doing it again, saying his name like that, all sex and heat…

"…all that energy…on my bed…naked…"

It was like his mouth was moving independently of his mind, forming words he never thought he'd ever speak as it slid it way back up the smooth throat.

He was fighting not to moan, not to simply tumble into the brunet's invitation heedlessly. But gods, he really wanted to.

"…I blame you…you put the idea in my head… can't stop thinking about it…"

There was definitely something wrong with him. He never talked that much.

"…and now I want to fuck."

Oh god. He didn't say stuff like _that_. Even though it was true. It had never been truer in his life.

He felt hot, over heated really. And he was bothered, his body suffering a skin hunger so intense that the simple touch of bare skin on his own left him reeling, desperate for more contact. He wanted to feel the blond's flesh wrapped around him more than he wanted his next breath.

Naruto did moan then, long and low and needy as the words sent another shock through his system. Somehow, through the heavy mist of arousal the words came to him, half panted, half moaned as that clever mouth continued its assault on his neck and ear, in what felt like preparation for the main attack.

"No sex, Sasuke…. We're not… oh gods…having sex… tonight."

The brunet reeled back, letting go of the tanned man so abruptly, Naruto unbalanced a bit. There was such fury and indignation raging in those coal black eyes at his words that he could almost feel it flaying him where he stood. The Uchiha's next words vibrated softly, menacingly with the emotions.

"Why. Not?"

Naruto sighed, knowing his answer wouldn't go down well. Sasuke was a proud bastard after all. He shrugged his shoulder, tucking his hands into his pockets as he looked at the dark-eyed man, wanting desperately to reach out to him.

"I'm not giving you an excuse to run away again. If we have sex, then you can just tell yourself you got what you came for, got it out of your system and turn your back on me, on…this…this thing between us, just because it makes you uncomfortable. "

He shook his head, blond strands catching in the light as they resettled haphazardly.

"I'm not letting that happen…I won't let you walk away without a fight, Sasuke."

Sasuke reeled as his thoughts were vocalized. To say he was shocked would be mild. No one, not even Itachi, had ever been able to read him so clearly. And the idiot had just met him a few hours ago.

It just, it just gave more credit to his reasoning. The blond was dangerous, too intuitive for his, or Sasuke's, own good. He saw too much with those blue eyes, things people never saw, never bothered to try seeing.

He turned, walking to the window, away from that knowing gaze, to look through the glass at the strip, the people there coming and going, oblivious to the tumult he felt. It was the analogy of his life.

He tried to calm himself, knowing anger wasn't the way to go about this. No, that was bettered stored for later. There would be other times to let that go. Right now he needed to think.

The blond had wanted a date—no, _two_ dates. With him.

_Why?_

He would have said physical attraction. Obviously, it was there. He'd seen…he'd _felt_ the looks those true-blue eyes had been giving him all night. If he hadn't been so used to people staring at him, Sasuke might even have called it disconcerting, the way those eyes seemed to strip him bare of the intricate, protective layers he'd built around himself, seeing down to his very essence. The raw desperate flavor to the way he'd moved his lips against his throat had left him dazed, burning and wanting more. Yes, the physical was very obviously present.

Of course, if that were the only thing, then the dobe wouldn't have minded losing the bet.

Then there was that strange look from earlier, where he could have sworn the idiot was looking at him like he was something fragile and priceless and…unique. Amusement and perhaps a tiny bit of pleasure at the thought battled strongly with his annoyance.

He wasn't fragile or weak damn it. He was a man, like any other—better than most, when he was feeling vain—and very capable of taking care of himself and his problems. He didn't ask for help because he didn't need it. He hadn't needed it since his parents had died and forced him and his sixteen year old brother to grow up overnight.

He remembered in the year-long aftermath of the accident that had changed his life forever he and Itachi both had received pitying looks and fragile treatment from the lawyers, the doctors, the business associates and the other endless string of people that had marched through their lives. It was as if they were all afraid the two boys, and Sasuke especially, would break if they didn't tiptoe around them, avoiding all mention of the "incident," unless absolutely necessary. But not one of them had ever offered them a hug.

And they hadn't broken. Not then, not now. And Sasuke had no plans for it happening ever.

So he didn't need, and didn't want, to be seen as fragile. As for priceless, well, that bordered too closely to the pedestal his sycophants loved placing him on, maybe even for that very reason. There were only so many Uchiha's to go around, after all.

Unique, though, was new.

The fawning parasites that made up his fan club—and god he really hated the thought that he had a fan club sometimes, it made him feel like one those teeny-bopper boy band guys—didn't see him as an individual so much as an icon, again, a là boy band guy. He was simply a status symbol or a trophy to collect for whatever reason they had, ranging from his looks to his money to his last name. He knew that if anyone else fit the same requirements, they would likely pursue him as well, if not exclusively. Thus, the overlap in his and Itachi's fan clubs. Age seemed to be the only thing restricting some of the crossover between the two.

But the blond was different from them all; he seemed to see past all of that, or, even better, not care about any of it.

The idiot had sat across from him and begun insulting him practically from the go. Learning who he was hadn't fazed him for him a second. Sasuke felt his eyes soften just slightly as he remembered the blond's response to learning that Uchiha Sasuke was the man he'd been insulting.

_Okay, so you're a rich and famous teme. Still a teme though. Money and last names aren't changing that. _

If he hadn't been so outraged and shocked at the time, he might have laughed. Except Sasuke didn't do _that_. At least not out loud. Though he had a faint suspicion the 'Hn' he'd retorted with hadn't sounded quite as indifferent as he'd intended.

It had…piqued his curiosity.

Though he would refuse wanting the date until he was blue in the face. At least out loud. To the dobe, anyways.

Dates implied wanting to get to know a person, to spend time with them. Sasuke didn't particularly like people, didn't particularly want to know them better, certainly didn't want to spend more time with them. The dobe was just a…freak of nature. Precisely. He'd needed closer examination, was all.

And Sasuke realized he was thinking too much, too deeply. Especially about one particular whiskered-cheek moron he'd barely just met.

Naturally, this was all Naruto's fault.

He was so quiet, staring out that window. He hadn't moved in nearly three minutes, an eternity, leaving him standing there, watching him. Naruto wondered if maybe, it was a sort of dismissal. He sighed. He shouldn't have expected differently really.

He was new at this too. It was easy, so much easier to deal with flings and one-night stands. There wasn't so much on the line there. If they wanted to walk, you let them. But he couldn't, just couldn't let Sasuke go like that, even if he had no reason he could think of for feeling that way.

He didn't know what do or say in this situation and maybe, he feared, maybe he'd just messed up the only thing that had felt right in so long. It wasn't like it was easy walking the landmine of issues the Uchiha seemed to have set out for him.

He stared at the silent man awash in moonlight and neon, ethereal in his paleness, for a few more seconds before he turned to leave. Clearly he wasn't welcome anymore.

He made it two steps before Sasuke's words stopped him.

"I thought you said I could drive a man to sin, Naruto?"

The words were murmured so softly, Sasuke not moving from his spot by the window, that he almost didn't hear them. But the tense silence carried them easily.

There was the barest hint of sadness to them.

"But if _you_ won't sin for me, Naruto…"

He turned then, to look at the blond.

"Were those just pretty words you didn't mean?"

Their eyes locked and Naruto felt like he'd been sucker punched in the solar plexus. He felt like he was looking into Sasuke's soul. But that couldn't be. He'd just met the bastard. And while he considered himself a romantic, to an extent, he'd never really believed the expression that eyes were the windows to the soul.

But in that second Naruto's world had tilted just so, before it righted itself, a few degrees off its previous path.

In that midnight gaze he could see much too much about him, things he didn't think the normally aloof man had meant to show him. Complex and intense thoughts that were visibly swimming through those obsidian pools, demanding answers to questions voiced and unvoiced. He noted the glimmer of underlying insecurity, as if he feared the response.

But what shook him was the resignation that filled them slowly in his silence.

_Naruto?_

Sasuke closed his eyes.

"Idiot…" He wasn't quite sure if he meant himself or the blond.

Slowly, he turned his head away, back towards the pulsing life outside his window.

And with that Naruto groaned and crossed the room in three strides, taking the leaner man in his arms, his fingers fisting into those midnight strands to yank his head back.

Sasuke stared at him, surprise and hurt so raw in his eyes before the tidal wave of lust filled the dark orbs and crashed over his body. Oh gods, he wanted…he wanted…he didn't know. He wanted those hands on him, that mouth on him, something, anything to wash that painful disappointment away, to bank the fire boiling his blood.

Gods… this felt so right. It was like his body was meant to be pressed into his. Why was this bad again? _Because it would scare off Sasuke_, his mind whispered How, how could anyone be scared off by this, wouldn't you want this to be yours always?

That's what scared Sasuke. He wanted it, wanted it so bad he couldn't think. It wasn't right, him not being able to think. He was an Uchiha—he was scrambling to reason as another tidal wave of raw need threatened to crest over him. He wanted to wake up to this, to know this was there for him, whenever he wanted. He had no business wanting those things. No…people didn't stay around for long…he would just be hurt in the long run…yes…true…but he just couldn't bring himself to care right now.

His moan was raw and filled with need.

Naruto almost came to the sound.

His hips reacted for him, thrusting forward into the Sasuke's. They both hissed as cloth and denim covered erections ground against each other, creating delicious friction.

The feeling of long fingers tangling in his hair, fisting there to snap his own head back made Naruto hiss and pull that pale body tighter against his.

"I want…I want…" He could see pictures, bright, vivid images of what he wanted as his eyes roamed over the blond's face, but couldn't form the words. The part of his brain that formed words seemed to have vanished.

He crushed his lips to the blond's. And swore he felt the ground shake.

Ozone. Ozone and heat and danger. Like a lightning storm. If you weren't careful the rays would catch you, strike you where you stood, set you ablaze. That's what he tasted like, Naruto thought, as his lips sparred with Sasuke's.

Teeth scraped over and bit into a bottom lip, hard enough to puncture. A hissing moan. The sweet, coppery taste of blood on their tongues.

Hot, so hot. Summer nights and forests, intoxicating, untamed and wild. The blond's taste was pure gasoline on the flames already raging in him. More. He wanted more.

Tongues lapped and begged and fought for entrance, both mouths capitulating at the same time. They tangled and warred and mated, claiming the other as theirs, their prize in this battle.

It wasn't gentle, not at all. It was raw and desperate and intense. It wasn't a kiss, it was trying to burn each other live, consume each others souls. He'd been right about the bastard letting himself go. It was magic.

Eager, anxious noises and possessive growls, he could hear them, where were they coming from? He didn't care, not right now, not when his fingers were scoring down black cotton and a strong back, feeling those tanned muscles bunch and flow beneath the punishing path of his nails.

_FUCK! _

Naruto tore his mouth away from Sasuke's, head falling back with a strangled cry, hands dragging lean hips against his own, as pain, dark and delicious, hit his already overloaded system. He sank teeth into the pale throat before him.

_FUCK!_

Another cry, strangled and shocked. He couldn't catch his breath. There wasn't enough air. Where had the floor gone? He couldn't feel his legs. All he felt was fire, fire everywhere those hands, those lips touched. His throat, his throat with those teeth there, sucking, biting, was radiating heat throughout him.

Naruto caught him as his knees gave, the feeling rushing through his system like electric shock. He lowered them to their knees on the soft carpet, feeling his own legs threaten to give as another of those little sounds bubbled up from the throat he was nibbling. That milky throat that looked so much better with the faint red bruise that was beginning to appear.

The bastard tasted good. Addictive. He wanted to taste all of him.

Similar thoughts ran through the others mind as his hands slid under and up that tee to let his finger play at the base of his spine. He wanted to taste, to feel all of the blond. His skin was so hot, almost feverish to the touch. He wondered if he would burn with that heat under him, wrapping around him, as he slid inside. The thought made him pant with desire.

He had to know. _Needed_ to know. Pale fingers slid around the waistline of dark denim stilling between their bodies.

A blond head dropped onto a muscled shoulder, as Naruto fought to catch his breath. He set his hands to work on loosening buttons, needing to touch more of that moonlight skin. Those fingers…those fingers were driving him insane as they ghosted over his flesh, dancing across the skin of his hips, his abdomen. He whimpered at the loss of contact with the brunet's hips, missing the hard, warmth of his cock against his own, grinding, sliding, teasing.

The whimper changed into a sharp exhalation of breath as those damning fingers took its place. Gods….he bit into a shoulder.

His eyes flashed, dark and dangerous, as he felt the blond's erection jump in his hand and the sharp sting of teeth on his shoulder. Yesss….his eyes slid shut and fingers began stroking, his free hand making fast work of the belt holding the denim in place.

A moan, low and throaty bubbled up from him. Buttons popped and pinged, scattering as tan fingers yanked through flimsy material hiding the pale chest from his touch. Calloused fingers raced over milky skin stretched taut across lean muscles, touching everywhere at once.

The sounds of leather and metal sliding, the zip of a zipper coming undone joined their harsh breaths. And two pairs of eyes snapped open with a hiss as Sasuke's hand closed over the hard, silken flesh of a naked erection.

Their eyes met, held and then that pale hand began to move.

"_Fuuck_…_Sas...ke_…"

That voice. Oh yes, he wanted that, wanted to hear that voice say his name like that. Wanted to hear it scream his name. His grip tightened, sped up.

He couldn't look away. Onyx held him captive as pleasure built higher and higher in his body. His breathing was ragged. Fingers pinched a pink nipple hard, the sharp sensation making Sasuke tighten his grip even more and Naruto cry out half in pain.

He was even hotter here, Sasuke thought, pulsing, weeping with arousal. His thumb slid into beads of precum on the upstroke, brushing over the slit, relishing in the response as those hips thrust harder into his fist.

Inside his slacks, his cock twitched uncomfortably, clamoring for freedom and attention.

Gathering what little wits he had left about him, Sasuke leaned forward, letting his lips brush over a heated ear, licking at it gently with his tongue before whispering in a breathless voice.

"Dobe….touch me…"

Naruto licked his lips, dry from his harsh breaths as that throaty voice murmured into his ear. Kami-sama, he wanted to. Wanted to touch all of him, every inch, until he'd committed the perfect body pressed against him to sensory memory. There was something whispering in the back of his mind though, but he pushed it away.

The only thing that mattered right now was Sasuke and touching him.

The hands splayed across that chest slipped lower, brushing pebbled pink nipples, defined abs, finally reaching their destination. Deft, eager movements made fast work of the belt, letting it fall to the ground beside them, forgotten.

Teasing, he ran a finger inside the waist, bumping across a damp spot and a hard, warm cockhead. He chuckled softly at the sharp intake of breath and replied in kind when the hand that had stilled on his cock tightened.

"Cocktease…"

Teeth bit lightly into his earlobe. "Hn. Get on with it, dobe."

He pulled back to nip at those pretty pink lips. "You sure are a romantic bastard, teme…" The teasing insult was more affectionate than not, as he tasted that mouth again.

The button and zipper gave easily to his fingers and, without preamble, he hooked both hands into the brunet's clothing and shoved pants and boxers together to his knees. Before Sasuke could hiss at his sudden freedom and the change in temperature, a strong hand had wrapped around his leaking cock and pumped once, hard.

"Nggghhhh!"

His hips thrust up and forward, bumping into his own hand encasing the blond and the denim he'd only pushed aside.

Naruto looked down, away from the flushed face and hungry eyes to look at his captive. His eyes widened at the sight. Holy fuck that was hot!

His hand looked so dark wrapped around a blushing pink cock, long and elegant like Sasuke himself. His hand was pressed against Sasuke's own paler one, gripping his darker member tightly. Blond and black curls almost touched, but his jeans were in the way.

"That's sloppy work, Uchiha," he teased.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the insult, looking down. Like Naruto, his breath caught at the sight of them, oozing, throbbing in each other's hand, eager for the other's touch.

_What the hell was the idiot talking about?_

And then he noticed Naruto's free hand left his hip to hook into the side of the jeans. His own immediately followed on the opposite side, pushing the offending material out of the way.

"Hn." He'd been distracted, he remembered, by the discovery that Naruto went commando.

Naruto's response was to jerk twice on the cock in his hand, making Sasuke fall against him with a garbled moan, causing them to topple to the floor.

By some unknown signal they began to move. Lips crushed into each other, snarling, biting, recouping the frenzied rhythm from before. Hands moved, fisting hard and fast, whipping them up higher and higher.

Precum slicked their movements, theirs or the other's, neither could tell. It slicked their hands and gave them purchase to slide faster, mercilessly. Half moans, half cries spilled from their lips as they fought to bring each other, screaming.

"Ngggaahhh! Naruto!"

"Hnnn! Saas…keee!"

White, hot pleasure erupted, spilling over both of them, drowning them and their screams as ropes of milky cum splattered over their hands and stomachs, drenching them in their spent desire.

Neither could remember ever coming so hard.

Sasuke collapsed onto the blond underneath him, not caring about their mess, his every muscle lax. He felt boneless.

Naruto "oomphed" softly as Sasuke suddenly collapsed on him, but made no move to roll him off. He didn't think he could have even if he'd wanted to, seeing as his muscles felt like gelatin right now.

Half lidded blue eyes took in the sight of Sasuke's head on his shoulder, his dark hair getting lost in the darkness of the tee that had never come off. The fringe of dark lashes on still flushed cheeks and just slightly parted pink lips taking in shaky breaths painted an expression of complete satisfaction on his face, relaxed and unguarded.

_Beautiful bastard_.

He could definitely get used to seeing him like that, though. His heart tightened slightly at the thought.

"Hnn, dobe…we should try to make it onto the bed…its softer…" His voice was thick and slow, sounding like molasses in his sated state. It was interesting, but he couldn't quite bring himself to focus on it, not when there were lazy circles being drawn on his hip.

Mm, soft bed would be better. He'd hate to give the teme rug burns from pounding him senseless. His eyes shot open.

_He wasn't…this wasn't…he hadn't meant…oh fuck…_

He wanted Sasuke. He wanted Sasuke in such a visceral, primal way it was frightening. If he stayed…if he stayed he wouldn't be able to stop himself. He'd pick up that lean body that seemed to be made of moonlight in the dark and drop him into that monstrous bed and slam inside of him before he could even blink in protest. He wanted to take him. To take him and fuck him into the mattress until he screamed his name. Until he passed out. Until he was his.

He whimpered, eyes widening in slight fear at the very, very real need he felt to do just that.

If he did that, Sasuke would be gone. His pride, his stupid, fucking pride wouldn't be able to handle it. There would be no second date. There would be no more Sasuke.

He had to get out of here. Had to.

"Sasuke…"

"Hn?"

"Get off…"

"Hn."

That was a no. He could feel the gentle shake of Sasuke's head against his shoulder and the black silky bangs sliding against his chin with the motion.

"I'm serious bastard, get off…" He said amused, poking a pale side.

The undignified squeak and rapid movement of jet black in his vision as he immediately rolled made golden brows rise. And the dark glare he received from the Uchiha nearly had him chuckling.

_Ticklish, teme? Who'd have thought?_

He just winked at the Uchiha, grinning impishly, before looking down at their handiwork.

Well his shirt would have to be dry cleaned, that much was obvious. It was sticking uncomfortably to his stomach where he could see the drying patches of their seed. His hand was sticky too. He was sorely tempted to bring it to his lips and discover if Sasuke tasted similarly everywhere, but somehow he didn't think licking cum off his fingers in front of the bastard was going to help him get out of this situation any faster.

No matter how tempting.

The thought made his blood stir, just the tiniest bit. Alarmed, lest Sasuke take that as an invitation to continue this further, which he no doubt would considering how many not so subtle hints he'd been making since dinner, he wiped his hand on his shirt and started wriggling the denim up his legs.

Sasuke watched fascinated as those tan hips lifted into the air just so to drag the pants up. _Nice…_

And then he realized the blond was fully dressed again and standing. Feeling oddly discomfited being half nude with a fully dressed blond peering down at him, he dragged his own slacks up. He left the snap unbuttoned for now and got to his feet.

A single, black brow arched in question

He felt the inquisitive dark gaze seeking out his eyes and avoided meeting them, looking down instead.

"I, uh…"

_Bad idea._

He was staring at Sasuke's neck. Sasuke's neck where there was a very distinctive red mark peeking from beneath the collar of his open shirt.

"Umm…I have to…"

His hand waved in the direction of the door, even though his eyes couldn't seem to pull away from the sight of Sasuke. The open navy shirt revealed a smooth, muscular chest, devoid of hair, but marked clearly with faint pink runs from his scrabbling fingers.

"…I have to go…"

That toned chest spilled lower, into well defined abdominals that were suspiciously shiny. His eyes almost slid lower, but at the sight of silk covered elastic he managed to squeeze them shut.

"I really have to go..."

He felt slender fingers wrap around his gesturing wrist, heard the murmured "_dobe…_" and opened his eyes to onyx. Onyx that was heavy with swirling emotions.

But he wouldn't, couldn't get sucked in again.

"Really, really… Trust me, teme."

He cupped a strong, pale jaw, pressed his lips swiftly and hard to Sasuke's, pouring his apology into the kiss.

And then he bolted.

Sasuke recovered from the dizzying kiss to the sound of the elevator doors sliding shut.

Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!

He was leaning against one of the elevator walls shaking with lust, his cock once again painfully hard, apparently having forgotten it had just had one of, if not the most intense orgasm of its life.

He was licking his lips, waiting for the numbers to fall…one…floor down to where his suite was located. He realized with a start he was to be sleeping under the bastard. Groaning at the thought, he darted down the short hall, shoving the keycard in his door with faint desperation.

He was stripping before the door slammed behind him, his need for Sasuke pouring off him in a thin film of sweat. He barely managed to fall into the shower before wrapping his hand around his throbbing cock with a strangled cry.

He let that last image of Sasuke fill his mind, of taking him, of fucking him into that monstrous bed, of every single frustrated sexual thought he'd had about the onyx-eyed man that night and hadn't been able to act on as his hand moved in a blur of speed and force until he came again, screaming the name that was burned into his mind, his soul.

Spent, he let the warm water pelt his body, washing away the night's frustration.

He didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the thought that he was falling in love.

"Hello?"

"_Sasuke…_" He sucked in air, mouth suddenly dry. Gods, that icy voice did things to him.

"Naruto?" Sasuke replied into the phone, softer than he'd meant to, his body immediately hard and throbbing at the sound of that warm, whiskey voice saying his name.

Neither said anything for a few seconds, each fighting to keep their desires in check.

_Fucking bastard for being so damn complicated. I really want to go back up there…_

_Stupid dobe for being so damn stubborn. I really wish you'd come back up here…_

Sasuke regained his composure first, as was only natural, and broke the silence. "Yes, dobe? Is there a reason for this call or are you simply calling to apologize for running out of my room like a scared little rabbit?"

He didn't know what made him say that. He hadn't _intended_ to bring that up at all.

The growl on the other end of the line let him know he'd hit a sore spot. Well good. It's not like he was happy about it either. His normally spacious bed just seemed too big for one now. Let the blond be miserable too. Sasuke smirked maliciously.

"Teme…" His voice sounded rough and scratchy as he tried to talk through the growl. He tried to smooth it out some.

"First, I wanted to tell you to be in the lobby on Wednesday at six am. Pack light, but warm. Bring sunscreen."

The last thing he needed was a grouch, irritable and _sunburned_ bastard on his hands. He could only imagine how that would magnify the Uchiha's teme-ness.

"Second, I had my reasons, bastard. I told you, I wasn't giving you an excuse to run again. And you call me the scared little rabbit?"

Naruto had to grin when he practically heard the smirk drop and turn into a scowl over the phone. Touchy bastard. _Now to piss him off completely. _Mischief and something darker, more predatory shone in his eyes. His voice once again went low and husky.

"I'm the fox, baby. And I am definitely hunting you…_Sasuke…_"

The word should have sounded funny, ridiculous, but they didn't. They sounded ominously true.

TBC


	5. Cashing In

_Bastard. Stupid, fucking beautiful, cold bastard!_

His hand moved faster, almost a blur in the late afternoon sun shining through the windows.

"With that ridiculous hair that shines blue in the moonlight," his voice was strained as he mumbled to no one in particular.

He could see it so clearly, all glossy and inky. Pleasure was starting to zing through his system, building in familiar, tightening coils.

"Who even likes…black…eyes…anyways…"

Apparently his dick did. And it chose that second to show him just how much.

"Nnggaahh!"

His back bowed hard up off the bed, cum spilling across his hand in a warm wash as he cried out his release. His chest rose and fell unevenly for minutes as he tried sucking in air.

This was all that bastard's fault. He knew it was.

The sudden image of Sasuke that flashed across his eyes made his cock twitch.

Naruto wanted to whimper.

Not again. Damn it, he needed a break. This couldn't be healthy. He was sure he was going to die of dehydration from fluid loss at the rate he was going.

He'd had a nearly permanent hard on since he'd left that penthouse. He'd been jacking off like he hadn't done since he'd been fourteen—so he'd been a bit precocious, but he blamed that on being raised in turn by the two biggest perverts he'd ever met—and had first discovered that yes, boobs and cock really were that amazing.

After day one away from Sasuke, he'd become very good friends with his shower. His very cold shower. Otherwise he was sure he'd have rubbed the skin on his dick raw. Lotion, he'd discovered, only went so far.

_Stupid Uchiha teme. _

He couldn't get him out of his mind.

Damn those perverts that had turned him into one.

Floating in a mild post-orgasmic haze, he heard ringing and looked around the room for the source. His eyes landed on his cell phone lighting up and vibrating on the nightstand and he eyed the gadget uncomprehendingly for a few seconds before it clicked in his brain that he needed to answer. 

"Um…'ello?" His tongue felt thick, he yawned a little.

"Yo."

Speaking of perverts.

"-akashi?" His voice was still pleasure hazed and more gravelly than he'd meant for it to sound. Fuck. The bastard even made his self induced orgasms more intense. He scowled slightly.

The voice on the other side of the line chuckled softly. "Caught you at a bad time, kiddo?"

Naruto groaned at the knowing tone in the voice. Go figure. Like recognizing like and all. He'd known the man too long to be embarrassed by something so trivial however. "No…No, it's fine. Ugh. You'll understand when you meet the bastard, I swear!"

Kakashi laughed. "I take it he's a pretty one, then?"

"Fuck, Kakashi. Pretty doesn't even begin to cover it. He's like my personal wet dream come to life!"

His cock stirred again in agreement and Naruto was tempted to groan in frustration, annoyance, arousal…he wasn't even sure anymore. 

"Oh ho ho. He sounds…intriguing. I can't wait to meet him, Naruto. I didn't call to chat, though. We'll have plenty of time for that on Wednesday. Do you have pen and paper handy? Write down this list…"

As he jotted down the list of supplies his thoughts strayed once more to Sasuke and his pulse quickened. He was definitely jumping into the shower as soon as he got off the phone.

He just hoped the fucking teme was suffering as much as he was.

Dark silk slid sensuously over light skin, its gentle touch on hypersensitive flesh eliciting a soft moan from pink lips. He rolled onto his stomach, tangling in the soft sheets that held him trapped, lost to sleep and dreams.

Dreams where tan, muscled arms held him trapped. Soft, full lips whispered silken caresses over his heated flesh, sliding down his spine to his lower back. He arched up into that touch and heard a chuckle, warm and thick like good whiskey, before he felt the barest press of lips into the indents that straddled the base of his spine. His head flailed from side to side sending dark locks flying, his hands dug into the sheets seeking purchase as his body tried to decide if that touch was too much or not enough. He whimpered so softly the sound was lost in the slide of silks. And then he felt a calloused finger slowly sliding lower, so close, almost there, oh god…

"Naruto!" Dark eyes flew open as he cried out inaudibly into his pillow and his hips thrust back to meet…nothing.

He looked over his shoulder through the spill of his bangs and found himself in his vast bed, alone. _What the…_And then the awareness that he'd been dreaming, again, about _him_, had Sasuke groaning and collapsing into the mattress.

He hissed intensely as that caused silken friction on his painfully hard cock and felt the urge to snarl at the blond. He wouldn't be frustrated and unable to get a good night's sleep if those damning blue eyes and that stupid grin didn't keep haunting him. Or that taste of heated summer nights that had spilled into his mouth when he'd finally captured the blond's lips… or those dexterous fingers sliding over his chest and down to wrap tightly around him… or the warmth of that body underneath him, growing hotter with each stroke as the pleasure built and heightened.

In tune with his thoughts his own hand moved, tracing his bottom lip, down over his chest, barely grazing his nipples, down further until his own hand was curled around his weeping erection, his spine arching as he remembered another's touch.

And though he managed to stifle his voice at the last second, he couldn't keep himself from screaming the blond's name in his mind as bliss spread through and poured out of him with his orgasm.

Minutes of boring holes into the ceiling later, when his breathing had finally calmed and his body had cooled slightly, he began untangling himself from the soiled sheets, having to fight them off in his attempts to stand. He didn't understand how he'd ended wrapped up in that manner in the first place. He wasn't one to move during sleep. Though he was fairly certain it had something to do with blinding smiles and a blue-eyed dobe.

_Hn. He really is becoming more trouble than he's worth._

A random thought stealthily crept in on cat's feet. _Now imagine if he actually touched you like that…_

_  
Hn. _

He padded silently to bathroom, conflicting thoughts of the other man filling his head. He just needed a shower to clean off and calm down so he could think clearly. The thought pulled a sneer to his lips. Tch. Nothing was clear when it came to Naruto. Somehow, the idiot managed to shoot his concentration straight to hell where he was concerned.

Why else would he be at home in the middle of the afternoon trying to sleep off a headache?

Sasuke hadn't been able concentrate on the first quarter's reports splayed across his desk. The second he got lost in his work, blue eyes would appear in his mind glittering with excitement and that stupid voice whispering his name would echo in his head.

That was a problem.

He couldn't afford to make the frustrating mistakes in his calculations. He had a corporation to financially manage. But trying to force his mind to crunch numbers had only resulted in a splitting headache.

In his irritation, he'd snapped at his secretary unnecessarily and Itachi had gotten an earful about fucking-knowing-everything-and-being-an-irritating-thorn-in-his-side-because-he-just-couldn't-mind-his-own-fucking-business when he'd had the audacity to comment on the fading bruise on his neck.

At which point, he'd stormed out of the office telling his assistant that he was going to go sleep off the stupid headache and he wasn't to be disturbed.

Except, obviously, he was. He was very disturbed by images of Naruto in his head, in his dreams, doing things with him, _to_ him.

Fuck. This wouldn't be happening if he'd just met his goal.

He only hoped the idiot was suffering more. 

"Tch. Itachi, your little brother is irritable as fuck today. He nearly barreled me down crossing the lobby. What did you do to him?" The amusement in Kisame's rich voice as he stepped into Itachi's office sparked a smile from his lover. 

"Honestly? Not much." He glanced at Kisame, leaning against his office door. "I just asked him about the hickie on his neck." Black eyes sparkled with dark mirth at the words. It was slightly sadistic, Itachi mused, to derive so much pleasure from vexing his younger brother. Then again, he figured it was one of his few entitled rights as the older brother.

"A hickie, really? He must be feeling all sorts of undignified." Kisame chuckled at the thought.

It was odd to see the Uchiha's get riled up about anything. Their emotional control was nearly flawless and, Kisame swore, genetic. And though Sasuke was the more likely of the two brothers to snap first, it was still a rare occurrence. In the six years that he'd been with Itachi, he could count on one hand the time's he'd seen either of the brother's lose that icy control publically.

Privately though, privately his Itachi was a beautiful thing. It was the only time Kisame knew when his perfectionist, control obsessed boss could just let go and _be_. Though, it had taken time and patience on his part to convince his genius boyfriend to stop trying to top from the bottom. Actually, it had been more to the effect of him wrapping his hand in all that silky black hair, yanking hard enough on it to bring tears to those dark eyes, and telling Itachi to shut up and take it like a man as he pinned that lithe body to the mattress with one hard thrust. Itachi had never screamed so loud or cum so hard so quickly.

_Fuck that had been hot. _He eyed Itachi and his laughter changed just slightly, hinting at darker pleasures.

Itachi felt that deep, rich baritone laughter caressing him and shivered when he met the dark chocolate eyes staring at him hungrily. He licked his lips, watching as the gaze followed his tongue's movement and felt a surge of anticipation. He absent mindedly noted the hour, calculating the time until his afternoon meeting, before he voiced his question, his voice still tinted with amusement. He never could resist playing with fire.

"Ne, Kisame…what are you thinking about?"

A slow, wicked smile bloomed on Kisame's face at the question. He locked the door behind him and crossed the room, stopping behind Itachi.

"Bending you over your desk and slamming my hard, black cock into your perfect, tight, little ass over and over until you come screaming my name."

He leaned over, lips pressing into Itachi's hair, inhaling his lover's scent, before continuing in a delicious whisper. "Would you like that, _boss_?"

Itachi's only response was a hungry moan as he turned his head, seeking the source of that voice.

Kisame took that as a yes.

Water sluiced off his body, soothing his muscles and wiping away the evidence of his Naruto induced pleasure.

He didn't know what to do about the blond and Sasuke hated not knowing how to proceed. 

This game, this _thing_, between them was spiraling out of control. He didn't know what exactly Naruto wanted of him. He'd been so sure it was just a physical thing that the idiot's parting words on their last conversation had left him staring at the phone, dumbfounded. Sasuke really hated being proved wrong. He abhorred not knowing what to do. It was too risky to gamble when you didn't know the odds.

That lazy smile had snuck up on him when he'd been distracted by those blue eyes and the next thing he'd known, he was rolling around on his floor as strong hands mined his body for secrets.

As he washed, the images of another's hands sliding over his body so intimately, so knowingly, filled his mind. And when he realized that his hands were making their way to his half-hardened cock he started, staring down at himself in surprise.

He never—well, not never, but so rarely it might as well have been never—masturbated. He'd never seen the appeal and rarely felt the need. And yet, here he was not an hour after marring his silk sheets—he made a mental note to have them dry cleaned and returned by Wednesday night—and he'd nearly capitulated again.

He scowled, his unease over the blond rearing its head once more.

Fuck. If this was the withdrawal he was going to suffer after only have spent hours with the idiot, he didn't really want to think about what awaited him if he spent more time with Naruto.

He glowered at the thought, turning off the jets pelting him with warmth and grabbing a fluffy, navy blue towel to wrap around his hips.

Maybe he shouldn't go on that second date.

The first date had been a bad idea. He knew that, seeing as how idiotic thoughts—thoughts he had no right thinking—about a certain cocky idiot kept catching him by surprise. 

They crept up on him again, those sneaky thoughts of waking in his bed with arms wrapped around him and blue eyes watching him softly, of lazy smiles and fingers running through his hair, and he felt an odd sort of warm feeling spreading throughout him before he ruthlessly squashed the feeling and thoughts away. A second date would be disastrous. Clearly.

Curiosity and self-preservation warred within him as he analyzed his options silently.

There were too many unknown risks to his curiosity; it was a crazy gamble at best. It would require him to go all in…If he won, he could have everything the blond was offering. It was a tempting pot.

But if he lost…if he lost, he would have nothing—no one—again…He thought of his parents and the endless, black void he'd lived with since _that_ day. They had been his world and then, they were gone. No, he couldn't bring himself to rely on someone like that again.

Self-preservation on the other hand…self-preservation was a safe bet. It would ensure his ability to bet another day. It wouldn't leave him broken, empty and alone.

"Hn. I'll have to let the dobe know I can't make it," he murmured aloud, grabbing a smaller towel for his hair and walking towards his room. He refused to acknowledge the sudden chill he felt.

It was only then that he heard the phone ringing and his machine picking up.

_Leave a message. If it's important, I'll get back to you. _

An eyebrow arched, curious. He must have been very deep in thought to not have heard the phone ringing before. Hn.

He walked back to hear the message, one hand absently rubbing the towel over spiky locks, only to stop in his tracks at the voice now echoing in his room. A voice he hadn't heard in nearly four days.

_"Teme… "_

What should have been an insult sounded like a lover's sobriquet in that voice.

_"You're not going to chicken out on me, are you, scaredy cat?" _

Sasuke tensed in the door frame, the towel gripped tightly in his fingers. How dare he call **him**, _Sasuke Uchiha_, scared! He narrowed his eyes at the phone, glaring, previous resolution forgotten in the face of the challenge.

He'd go on the damn date and show him. Hn. As if he'd let some moronic blond get away with calling him a scaredy cat. Idiot.

_"Nah, of course you won't. I give you more credit than that…"_

Damn right, you better. Annoyance galvanized him into motion once more and he stalked into his room. He began stripping the bed viciously to the sound of the voice responsible for the mess in the first place.

He should charge the moron the dry cleaning costs—never mind it was free since the resort took care of it—Sasuke wasn't particularly rational in his anger.

_"Anyways…I was calling to remind you, six am tomorrow morning. Don't be late, Sasuke-teme…"_

No, his heart didn't skip a beat at the sound of his name. That was exertion from stripping the sheets. And no, his skin didn't tingle in anticipation. That was just the cold hitting his still damp skin. No. It had nothing to do with the dobe.

_"Oh, and I would pack some board shorts and a couple of long sleeve shirts if I were you. It can get cold at night, so whatever you plan on sleeping in, make sure it's warm. Hmm…don't forget the sunscreen too…I imagine that pretty moonlight skin of yours doesn't take well to the sunshine, does it teme? "_

The soft chuckle that followed definitely did not pool heat in his belly and make him lick his suddenly dry lips. Absolutely not.

_"Hmm…and you might want to get a good night's sleep, 'cause I plan on wearing you out… See you in a few hours, Sasuke…"_

Sasuke scowled as his cock jumped fiercely at the words. That had nothing to do with the blond either.

Naruto ended the call, a mischievous grin on his face. He only wished he could see the bastard's face when he heard the message.

He just had one more phone call to make now to finalize the date plans and then he'd pack and grab some dinner.

_Phone call first though_, he thought, pulling out a business card he'd saved and beginning to dial.

The voice that greeted him on the other end was so familiar and yet different. It made his smile spread.

"Itachi, I need a favor…"

He stepped off the elevator and was assaulted by flashing lights and the cacophonous sounds of bells ringing, coins falling and people talking at all volumes, which shocked him awake far better than his alarm had. He stood there, sleep hazed, scowling at the casino full of people teeming with life. 

Obviously these people had no life if they could look so awake, vibrant and alive at this godforsaken hour of the morning. Didn't they have something better to do, like _sleep_, when it wasn't even six yet?

The noise and the happy, smiling faces milling about were vexing Sasuke's already disgruntled mood. Naturally, this was also Naruto's fault. Who else planned dates at this hour? He should have refused on that reason alone.

Right now, he should have been in bed, warm and still asleep. It was the normal, rational thing to be doing at 5:43 in the morning. But no, he was downstairs in the resort's lobby, wondering what the hell the idiot was planning that required him to be awake before the sun.

That he still had no idea what this date would entail annoyed him. He'd entertained so many different possibilities only to discard them for one reason or another.

He did know however, that if he had to spend hours confined to a car with the blond—his left eye twitched at the thought—he might end up in jail for homicide.

Sasuke made his way to the lobby as he mused, unaware of the interested looks many a woman and the occasional man sent him. Power, self-confidence and annoyance poured off him in waves, parting the pockets of people and allowing him to walk straight through until he found himself near his destination. 

He nodded lightly at receptionists on duty at the front desk as he approached.

"Mr. Uchiha! Good morning, sir! Is there anything I can do to help you? Please let me know! "

Emi tried not to trip over her tongue as she stared at her beautiful boss. He was so dreamy, all dark and broody, like Heathcliff, in the book she'd been stealthily reading behind the counter when it wasn't busy. She could practically see him standing on a cliff, with fog curling like fingers around his legs as he yearned for his love that was always just out of reach…

Sasuke merely arched a brow in question at the little redhead's lost dreamy look—he was used to inspiring this sort of reaction to pay it much attention—before cutting into her reverie.

"I am expecting an Uzumaki Naruto. He's blond, loud and obnoxious" Sasuke's lips twisted into a ghost of a smile at the description that fit his…rival, for lack of a better word, so well.

"I'll be over in the lounge chairs by the fountain if he asks for me. Thank you."

He didn't wait to hear her reply; he simply made his way over to the deep, comfortable leather chairs and chose one of the empty red ones away from the few people already seated. Naruto just better not be late. He'd forced himself out of bed at some ungodly hour to make it on time and he would do terrible, painful things to the blond if he'd lost his precious sleep in vain.

He picked up one of the complimentary copies of The Wall Street Journal and leafed through it. He might as well keep himself entertained until the dobe made his appearance. So settling the small bag at his side, he started reading.

"Hey bastard, ready to go?"

Sasuke nearly—only nearly—startled at the soft voice murmuring so close to his ear. When had the blond come in? 

Worse yet, how had he managed to sneak up on him, _him_, unnoticed? Surprise widened his eyes slightly, but he kept staring forward. Hn. He wouldn't let the blond notice that he'd been caught unaware if he had any say in the matter.

Naruto didn't notice. But it had less to do with Sasuke's superior cold bastard skills and much more to do with how distracting the scent of one Uchiha Sasuke was. Damn. That scent had been haunting his thoughts non stop for…four days, five hours and twenty something minutes. Not that he was counting.

"Teme…"

"Hn."

Even the patented caustic response couldn't ruin his mood this morning. 

"You smell good, bastard. I wonder…" Naruto grinned, nerves forgotten now that Sasuke had shown up, and flicked a tongue to lap at that pale neck. "Mmm…yep. You do taste as good as you smell."

The pink flush he could see peeking out of Sasuke's tee and sliding up his neck only brightened his morning more. 

Sasuke leaned forward and turned his head just slightly so his bangs hid his face from potential onlookers but allowed him to glare at Naruto directly. "Baka. There are people here, you know." 

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle before whispering to the brunet. "Relax," _ice princess_, "Sasuke…it's not like I pinned you to that chair and ravaged your mouth…despite how much I wanted to…"

The words, the soft murmuring in his ear, had Sasuke biting his bottom lip not to moan as images bubbled up in his mind. He could swear his shorts had just become a little tighter.

"Dobe…"

Naruto was having troubles of his own not following the demands his body was making on him to do just what he'd said. Arrggh! The whole waiting for Sasuke thing was going to drive him mad.

Spotting the duffel emblazoned with a fan of sorts—come to think of it, that fan had been on a lot of stuff in Sasuke's penthouse—he reached for it, needing something to do with his hands that didn't include feeding his addiction to Sasuke's body.

Withdrawal was such a bitch.

Naruto stood, breaking their little bubble of proximity and stared down into coal black eyes, seeing similar conflicting desire reflected there. It was enough to gentle his smile as he offered the paler man a hand.

"Come on teme, let's go. Else, we're gonna be late."

Sasuke waited a beat…two beats…before placing his hand in Naruto's and taking the offered help. At least the dobe was smart enough to let go once he stood, even if he did squeeze his hand softly before dropping it. Now he was just standing there, watching him.

"Hn. I'm waiting for you dobe. I don't know where we're going, remember?"

"Huh? Oh yeah! Sorry, I got a little distracted. Follow me!"

Sasuke watched as the blond rubbed the back of his neck with one hand sheepishly before recouping and winking at him. Sasuke merely raised an elegant brow, the tiniest smile twisting at the corner of his lips, before shaking his head and following. How a grown man managed to look childlike and innocent one second and like temptation incarnate the next was beyond him.

When Sasuke stepped up to the red Ferrari F430, he couldn't help the real smile that ghosted over his lips.

"Nice car," he said, thinking of his own black F430 resting deep in the hotel's private parking garage. Apparently they had something in common besides poker and chemistry. 

"Thanks, bastard. I've grown attached." Naruto replied, smiling as he seated himself behind the wheel after placing the duffel in the trunk.

The brunet followed, sliding onto the comfortable Italian leather seats. Sasuke found it a bit odd and disconcerting to be on the passenger side of the familiar car. He could only hope the blond wouldn't kill him now.

The rich grumbling purr of the engine coming to life sounded inside the car and hummed through their bodies as the blond released the clutch and shifted gears smoothly. In minutes they were off hotel property and cruising down the Strip.

Naruto kept the conversation flowing, rambling about the car being a belated birthday present the year prior from his perverted uncle as Sasuke looked out the window at the impending sunrise painting the horizon in orangey reds. The realization that he was up before the sun had even risen fully had him groaning and dropping against the headrest.

"Why so early, dobe?" Sasuke muttered, eyes closed to the morning light, interrupting the blond's tirade.

Naruto glanced at his passenger as he took a right sharper than necessary at the insult and grinned when he saw elegant hands flex into leather.

"To get head start on the day, bastard. Why else?"

Sasuke pried open his left eye to stare at the blond and his eyes narrowed, "you're one of those…those…_morning people_, aren't you?" 

The way the bastard said "morning people" made it sound like a curse worse than the seven plagues of Egypt combined. Naruto chuckled. Guess that meant Sasuke was **not** one of those "morning people."

"Maybe. Hmm…I'll put this in terms you can understand," the blond stated cheekily. "By starting early, I'm maximizing the time I get to spend with you, likely increasing my return profits and inducing the likelihood of a successful bottom line…" _which is to have you give 'us' a chance_, Naruto thought, but didn't add.

"Tch. Usuratonkachi." Though admittedly, Sasuke was too amused by Naruto's corporate speech to put much venom behind the insult.

They fell into a comfortable silence as Naruto drove when Sasuke realized where they were headed.

"Naruto…why are we going to Northtown?"

"Umm…because helicopters normally take off from that airport?" the blond supplied, in a helpful tone.

Sasuke stared at him incredulously for his ridiculous answer. "And why are we taking a helicopter anywhere?"

"Because it would take too long to drive? And, no offense, teme, but I have a suspicion that if we spent any number of hours in a car you'd either try to kill me for something I said or I'd try to rape you for something you did. So it's all around safer to take the helicopter."

_You can't rape the willing, dobe. _

Sasuke's jaw almost dropped at his train of thought. What the hell was wrong with him?

He wasn't given long to muse however as they pulled up to the airport and Naruto was waved through security with a grin by the man on duty.

They went right, heading for the corporate hangars—an area he was familiar with thanks to the company's jet and chopper—but turned before reaching them and headed back behind the main terminal.

"There she is." Naruto murmured, heading straight for the sleek, black machine. 

Sasuke arched a questioning brow as they pulled up near Helipad 3 and began unbuckling.  
"Yours?" He asked, pointing at the craft.

"What? Umm…sort of? It's the company's, really." The blond replied stepping out and heading for the trunk. He grabbed both duffel bags and nodded Sasuke in the direction of the helicopter.

As he was once again focused on the very enticing view of Sasuke's ass moving in front of him he was completely unprepared for the hard thump that hit him square between the shoulder blades. He grunted at the impact and would have lost his balance if his attacker hadn't roped a conciliatory arm around his neck in greeting.

"What the hell, dog breath?! That's not how you say good morning you know!" Naruto yelled, pushing the arm the brunet wrapped around him away.

"Shut up, blondie! A real man would have taken his licks without almost falling!" Came the barked reply that made magenta cheek tattoos move.

The two stood glaring at each other as Sasuke watched, curious, before they both broke into ear-to-ear grins and hugged each other. He could feel the scowl moving over his lips at the sight.

"Hey Sasuke, come here," the blond urged, waving the young Uchiha over to where he stood with the brunet's arm across his shoulder once more. "I want you to meet Kiba."

Kiba's smile grew wider if possible and pointier-than-normal canine's flashed in the rising light when he saw the dark-haired man's frown deepen slightly. He untangled himself from his best friend and extended a hand.

"Hey. Inuzuka Kiba, the blond idiot's best friend and your pilot for the day." Kiba offered with a smile.

Sasuke's frown smoothed out somewhat at the brunet's words. _They were just friends. _He shook and likewise introduced himself, his eyes sparkling darkly. "Hn. Uchiha Sasuke, the dobe's…recent acquaintance."

"Hey! Stop it with the insults you two!" Naruto interjected, pulling Sasuke away from Kiba. He eyed the two brunets and decided that those two together could be dangerous.

"Sorry blondie, I just call 'em like I see 'em"

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up and start the chopper or I'll tell Hinata you were being mean to me." It was low, down and dirty to pull that card out, but the widening of Kiba's brown eyes and the near panic look on his face was totally worth it. He grumbled and muttered, but finally climbed inside and pulled on a headset.

Naruto chuckled and whispered conspiratorially to Sasuke. "Girlfriend."

"Ah."

Kiba had had his hand out so Naruto passed him the bags and let him secure them before turning to his companion.

"Your turn, Uchiha. Climb in." In a playful mood, Naruto leaned in close and whispered so only Sasuke would hear him. "Want a boost?"

The scathing look Sasuke shot him showed he was clearly not amused. He turned his back on the blond and took the brunet's offered hand instead, pulling himself into the helicopter.

Naruto followed, smiling, and seated himself beside his slightly exasperated date. He pulled on the headphones and strapped in just as the blades began spinning. "Relax teme, we'll be there soon, promise."

"Hn." He wouldn't ask. He didn't care. It didn't matt—fuck it.

"Where exactly are we going?" Sasuke voice rang through the headset, waving at the expanse of land visible through the craft's windows.

"I can't tell. Blondie there told me not to." Kiba piped up from the front as they ascended swiftly. They hovered for a few seconds before the helicopter began moving east.

"It's a surprise, Sasuke." Naruto murmured, nudging the brunet beside him. "Don't you like surprises?"

"No."

Blue eyes went wide in surprise and a pout formed on the pink full lips at the response for a few seconds before it was replaced by another grin. "Teme. You'll like this one though and I'll get you to change your mind about that!"

He poked Sasuke in the side and was rewarded with a startled twitch and a suppressed squeal that made up for all black-eyed man's previous iciness. "Believe it." He added, winking.

"Hn." Sasuke refused to dignify the idiot with any more of a response. He might get the absurd idea that he enjoyed having his personal bubble invaded. He did not. Not at all. Not even by sexy-but-obnoxious blonds with shit-eating grins.

Instead he stared out the window, watching the harsh landscape so many found uninhabitable. The pink sands still partly burgundy in the early morning light and Joshua tree forests of the Mojave fell away quickly and soon sienna reds and Indian browns blended and swirled with grey and golden sand on the rock formations below. The high hills turned into small imposing cliffs as the mesas fell away into steep valleys and canyons where rivers sliced through.

Kiba pointed out the Hoover Dam as they near it and Sasuke was captivated by the dramatically different view. The River, a bright, pure blue—weren't Naruto's eyes that color? Yes, he determined after peeking from the corner of his eye at the blond, they were—looked much more imposing from the air than it did from land. It was a marvel the dam had held for so long.

He had some clue now where they were headed to and wondered why, of all places, Naruto had chosen that spot for…cashing in his bet. He should remember that, he scolded himself. That's all this was, just part of a silly bet gone awry. 

He listened as Naruto and Kiba talked and it became evident to him they had been friends for some time. He waved away their efforts to draw him into the conversation, preferring to observe the blond interacting.

He really had too much energy. Many of his sentences were punctuated with dramatic arm movements and expressive faces as he recounted his weekend activities for his audience. Sasuke was glad to note that Naruto at least had the tact to judiciously edit out some of the…more persona details of Friday night, leaving the story at winning a date off the younger Uchiha.

Sasuke's reply was along the lines of having felt charitable that evening for it was sad to see the blond resorting to betting to get a date. The indignant outcry of "Bastard!" even pulled at the corner of his lips in a half smile.

Naruto couldn't stay too indignant when he noticed that.

And like that, the forty minute ride passed until the suddenly the blond exclaimed.

"Finally! Look Sasuke. Isn't it just…?" The wealth of emotion in Naruto's voice as he stared at the striped gorge below them made Sasuke blink and turn to look at what the blond was pointing at.

Below them, a deep gash in the earth marred its perfection. And yet somehow, that imperfection made it more beautiful.

No one that saw the beauty of the Grand Canyon could go away untouched.

And then they were dropping into it, thousands of feet down inside that mile wide scar and Sasuke was as awed as Naruto at the breathtaking site of the strata of rock glimmering dark red, pale, rose pink, deep, pure orange and stark purple even in the sunlight. The patterns and colors on the rock were dramatically different from one rim of the canyon to the other and straight below, like a beacon of deceptive tranquility, flowed the bright aquamarine of the Colorado River.

"…beautiful." He murmured, unconsciously completing Naruto's thought.

The blinding, brilliant smile the blond directed his way at the response had Sasuke's features softening the slightest bit and the corners of his lips turning up into a hint of his first open smile of the day.

"I'm glad you like it, teme."

"It's hard not to. From up here, it's just so…" Sasuke searched for a fitting word, "…dramatic."

"Yeah, that's a good word for it. Oh, look over there!" Naruto murmured pointing out a window. Sasuke turned and found himself staring at what looked like a cove straight from the Blue Lagoon with the cascading waterfall and everything. It was surreal.

"That's Elves' Chasm. It's called that because if you stand in the right spot, it looks like there are faces carved into the rocks."

"It looks…magical…" Sasuke mentally winced for using such a whimsical word, but it was really the only one that came to mind.

"Yeah. It's one of my favorite spots on the river. Some other time, maybe, I'll take you to explore it."

Sasuke arched a brow at Naruto's words—he wondered briefly why he didn't feel a greater sense of panic at the thought—but opted not to comment as the blond was obviously lost in the beauty of the canyon.

They continued down the river in much the same way, with Naruto pointing out waterfalls and rapids to Sasuke and telling him miscellaneous details until they reached a wide sandy bank where Kiba set the helicopter down.

Sasuke turned to stare at the blond with a dubious look on his face. Since Naruto had already unbuckled himself and grabbed their duffel bags he was motioning for the Uchiha to get out of the craft, rolling his eyes when the bastard scowled.

"Oh for the love of…just get down!" He exclaimed, reaching across Sasuke's body for the buckle.

As expected, a pale hand slapped his away and reached for the buckle itself, freeing the older man. Deftly, Sasuke hopped off the craft and Naruto quickly followed. There were a few hand signs exchanged between the two friends, a couple of vigorous nods from Kiba, a smile and a wave from Naruto, and then Kiba left.

Kiba _left_. As in the helicopter was rising vertically out of the canyon and quickly out of sight. Kiba left _him_, alone, with Naruto and their duffel bags at the bottom of the Grand Canyon with no visible hiking trail to get out of there in sight. The only thing he could see was a small raft with paddles lying beside it.

"Naruto…where is Kiba going?"

At the sound of his voice a head of platinum blond spikes appeared from inside the raft and the scarred man waved and smiled in greeting. 

"Yo!"

Naruto waved back, smiling.

Sasuke felt his left eye twitch, worried. There was no way this could end well. Unless appearances were very, very deceiving, it looked like he was stuck with Naruto and the man with the wicked scar over the left side of his face and no way out.

"Naruto! What are we doing here?!"

"Cashing in my winnings."

Blue eyes sparkled puckishly at him-_this was going to be fun_—and the blond chuckled, draping his arms across the Uchiha's shoulder and heading for the raft.

"Welcome to our date, Sasuke-teme. I hope you're in shape, 'cause we'll be white water rafting for the next three days."

The look on Sasuke's face was priceless.

TBC


	6. Irrevocable Offer

Normally the youngest Uchiha had no problem schooling his features, but right now was not one of those times. His entire world, with one sentence, had been sent spinning wildly.

"Naruto! What the fuck where you thinking?! You can't just kidnap someone for three days without notice! I have things to do." Granted they weren't so pressing that they couldn't wait a few days, but the idiot didn't need to know that. It was a matter of principle. "Like a corporation to financially manage… they're called responsibilities, dobe, something you obviously know nothing about!"

"Shut up, bastard! I know perfectly well what it takes to pull workaholics like you from their safe little bubble behind their desk!" Naruto was annoyed now. Did the bastard really think so little of him?

"Do you really think I'd be so irresponsible as to plan something like this without clearing it by someone first? And they call you a genius." The snort of disbelief clearly conveyed Naruto's thoughts on _that_ matter.

"God, you're such a bastard!"

"Better than being an idiot," Sasuke leveled back.

Blue eyes narrowed. "Asshole"

"Usuratonkachi."

"Uptight prick!" He shouted, poking the Uchiha in the chest.

Sauske's voice went cold as ice. "Fuck you, Naruto."

And suddenly the blond was smirking, tripping a myriad of alarms in Sasuke's brain.

"Oh no teme, fuck _you_."

Jet-black eyes narrowed at the implication. "Hn. Wishful thinking, dobe."

They were toe to toe, having stepped closer with each insult flung until only inches and a hard breeze separated them. Those bright blue eyes held him, amusement and something more calculating, predatory almost, swimming in their depths.

And then Naruto's smile changed, deepened, to match the look in his eyes.

Sasuke couldn't look away from the piercing gaze, couldn't step back. Some primal part of his brain warned him to stay very, _very_ still. Movement would only excite the predator.

But his palms tingled at his side, his blood humming with anticipation of danger. Never had another person triggered this primal response in him. At the moment the urges to fight or flee where twin, keeping him rooted to the spot, a deep thrill coursing down his spine as he waited for Naruto to incite a particular reaction.

Sasuke licked his lips in anticipation.

That dangerous blue gaze fell, attracted by the motion. He watched, hypnotized by the movement, as the tip of that tongue slicked those pink lips making them shiny in the sunlight. His gaze slid up again, pinning the polished onyx with its intensity.

No matter the choice, the outcome was nearly guaranteed.

If they fought, it would be tangle of fists and limbs and blood fighting for the right to top, to dominate, and the winner would no doubt claim his prize without mercy. If Sasuke ran, the result would be the same once he caught him, pinned him, kissed him.

And Naruto had no doubt that he would catch the bastard. The bastard wanted to be caught. His grin grew a little more vulpine. He just didn't know it yet.

Their breaths mingled in their proximity, the exhales growing more labored with each passing second as they both watched, warily, for the other to make a move.

_There!_

Sasuke shifted abruptly. Naruto tensed, ready, when—

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your cute little friend, Naruto?"

A strong, pale hand suddenly landed on Naruto's shoulder, a low amused voice cutting into the tense atmosphere, shattering it like so many pieces of stained glass.

Naruto visibly jumped at the unexpected touch, finally breaking eye contact with Sasuke to turn and yell at the lanky man behind him.

"Kakashi! What the hell did you do that for?! Don't sneak up on people like that!"

Sasuke blinked, trying to reconcile this animated and wildly gesticulating blond with the intense and predatory one that had been staring him down seconds before. The image of the blond winning the poker game—and the similar reaction—came back to him. There was something about the image that pulled strangely at the corner of his lips. _Hn. Dobe. _

"Maa, maa, Naruto… no need to yell…" The man said, putting his hands up in a conciliatory manner, but looking not the least bit contrite as his eyes—eye, Sasuke corrected. Only the right was visible, the left beneath the scar he'd glimpsed earlier was hidden by the lopsided spill of silvery blond hair—curved into a happy crescent and closed with his smile. Or at least Sasuke assumed it was a smile, he couldn't quite see the bottom half of the man's face around Naruto or the high collar of his windbreaker.

Then that eye, a blue-grey the color of slate or stormy skies, opened and pinned him from around the head of golden blond. It narrowed slightly as the man shot him a look that was calculating and probing and dared him to look away.

He didn't. Uchiha's did not back down from challenges.

In that one look Sasuke felt himself stripped down, taken apart, examined and rebuilt. And still he held that steely gaze, face serene as the older man's test continued.

Then that eye closed again in a curve and the platinum blond gave him a small finger wave he could see over Naruto's shoulder.

"You must be Sasuke."

Sasuke scowled slightly, wondering why and how the man knew his name.

"Hn. And you are?" Was the younger man's reply, voice nonchalant as if he didn't care one way or another if he received an answer.

Naruto just rolled his eyes at Sasuke's tone before dropping his arm once more across lean shoulders.

"Kakashi, this prickly bastard is Uchiha Sasuke. Although…his sexy ass does answer to 'teme,'" the blond added, winking.

"Oomph!"

The comment garnered him an elbow in the ribs. He dropped his arm from around the Uchiha, glaring at the complete lack of expression on that pale, pretty face. "Oi, teme!"

"Hn."

Blue eyes rolled again not surprised by the monosyllabic response in the least.

Kakashi regarded the exchange with amusement, filing it away to report later.

"Anyways… this is Hatake Kakashi. He's our official 'guide'," Naruto made quote marks with fingers at the word, "on this run, since we're required to have someone certified with us. Really, he's not too bad, when he isn't sneaking up on people," another glare was shot at man, "or reading his porn."

An inquiring brow was leveled towards Kakashi at the last statement, but the man didn't seem fazed by the description in the least. Instead he extended a hand to the brunet, which Sasuke shook.

"Good grip. Strong. We'll see how you do," the enigmatic man murmured, looking over Sasuke's lean frame curiously before turning to Naruto.

"Bring over your stuff, kiddo, so we can get the raft packed." And then he walked away, back towards the raft settled near the river's edge.

Sasuke turned to Naruto, a questioning brow rising. "_He's_ our guide? Are you sure about this?"

"Oh yeah," the blond murmured, watching Kakashi's retreating back before turning back to Sasuke. "The man is a god of amphibious assault and survival. He was a Marine, you know? One of those special black-ops, Seal type guys…"

This time it was Sasuke that watched the lean, somewhat unassuming man with newfound respect.

"Anyways, he knows this river like the back of his hand. He's been running it for years. Really, he's pretty much the best guy to ever go rafting with and probably the best instructor you can have."

Naruto picked up the two duffel bags in one hand and started making his way towards the raft. Sasuke fell into step beside him naturally.

"And, of course," a happy smile spread across the blond's face, "he's family, so I trust him implicitly."

Those words stopped the younger Uchiha in his tracks. "Family?"

Blue eyes regarded him quizzically. "Yeah. It's kind of complicated to explain, but he's like a big brother, an uncle, a surrogate father figure and a sensei all rolled into one. He's been with Iruka almost as long as I have," he added, as if that explained everything.

Except it didn't, because Sasuke didn't know who Iruka _was_ or how long Naruto had been with him. He didn't really know anything about the blond except that he liked ramen, played poker and that his kisses could put a nuclear reactor to shame. Yet here he found himself on a second date that would last days, not hours, hundreds of miles from anyone he knew, with a highly skilled and trained killing machine as a chaperone.

Clearly, he'd lost his mind.

"Tch. Dobe, do you always bring chaperones on your dates?" Sasuke asked mildly amused, but curious at the response.

"Huh, what? Oh…" Naruto scratched lightly at the scars on his cheek and looked lost in thought for a second. "No. But then, I've never taken anyone rafting on a date before either." He tilted his head slightly at Sasuke waiting for his reaction to the statement.

"Oh?" Sasuke raised a single brow—he pointedly ignored the fluttery sensation around his heart, ascribing it to the desert heat.

"So why now, Naruto?"

Naruto felt the corners of his mouth quirk up at the question. "Cause you'll like it."

Sasuke turned to look at the blond fully, his features remaining impassive, though his dark eyes held a glint of amusement.

Naruto found it fascinating. He knew _he_ sure as hell couldn't keep his facial muscles still like that. The closest thing he had to that unexpressive face was the happy smile he almost always wore. It was his version of Sasuke's blank face. But Sasuke's eyes, they were expressive. You just had to know what to look for.

"Hn. What if I didn't like the water, dobe?"

"You do or you would have protested already," he pointed out to the brunet. Naruto could feel his smile spreading. "Plus, you're an adrenaline junkie," he remarked knowingly.

"Am I?" His tone was teasing and light and so unlike his regular voice that it made Sasuke hesitate for a second before continuing. "What makes you say that?" He was interested in the blond's logic.

"You like to gamble," Naruto replied with such equanimity that one would have thought the answer to be obvious. At the look on Sasuke's face—Naruto knew his logic often defied natural conventions and thus confused linear thinkers, which Sasuke definitely was—he explained.

"You don't do it for the money. You have enough of that. Even so, there are some that do it just for that reason. You don't though. For you it's about the challenge of overcoming the odds and that thrill of the unknown factor. That's why you like high stakes games. You can never be sure if you're going to win or lose that sweet pot and _that_ makes your heart race just a little faster and makes your awareness just a little bit heightened…like now, between us…" He took a step closer to Sasuke, blatantly invading his personal space.

He felt it, that heat that seemed to travel with Naruto, felt it pulsing over his skin, in his air. It was harder to breathe, to think, when those Prussian blue eyes fixated on him, when that those dark pink lips hovered inches from his own. _The dobe really has the sexiest mouth_, he thought watching those lips move, forming words that he could almost feel.

Naruto couldn't look away from the look in Sasuke's eyes. Black was supposed to a cold color, the absence of everything, but Sasuke's eyes were lit up, smoldering softly with a hidden flame. He was so tempted to stoke that small flame until it burned bright and dangerous, consuming all that lay in its wake. He'd have gladly walked into that flame without a second thought. It was a startling revelation and made Naruto blink, but his vision was still filled with Sasuke. Sasuke with the smoldering eyes and the slightly uneven breath passing through those pale pink—and so _soft_, he recalled—lips.

_Fuck but he's gorgeous like this_, his mind supplied, engraving the image to memory in agonizing detail.

Then those eyes looked up and met his own and both felt the punch of attraction and the jolt of adrenaline like a physical blow.

"Tell me I'm wrong…" husked Naruto, leaning his face just a millimeter closer to the brunet.

"No…"

"Tell me to stop…" he amended, golden lashes already half way down, his lips now a whisper from Sasuke's.

"No…" And dark lashes lowered completely as Sasuke closed that nonexistent distance between them

_God, Sasuke… god_…that's what was missing in his life these last four days; that taste of ozone and danger that was purely Sasuke.

_Soft. So soft…_He slid over that soft skin, just feeling that perfect mouth against his, imprinting the feel of Naruto on his body.

There were no tongues, no hands, no touching in that kiss. Just a brush of lips against each other, so soft, so chaste compared to their first kiss. And that simple, almost sweet touch unraveled them nearly as fast leaving them breathless, eyes clouded over with emotions neither could quite define in that morning of late spring.

Naruto licked his lips and took a step back. It was safer, much safer for both of them, if he put a little space between them. He doubted the rocky ground was comfortable enough for what his body was screaming at him to do with Sasuke.

Sasuke didn't stop him, needing those extra inches of space desperately because he didn't want them at all. _Naruto…what are you doing to me? _

He didn't do this. Emotions and wanting and all of that complicated life unnecessarily. Sasuke didn't want to complicate his life. He liked it just fine the way it was.

_Liar._ Sasuke paid the knowing voice no attention.

Naruto watched Sasuke and saw the mounting, bubbling panic in his eyes. Inexplicably, the Uchiha's alarm calmed his own nerves over the sudden intensity of this thing between them. He could handle this. He could. He had to, because Sasuke certainly wasn't going to. And really, he very much wanted to discover where this would lead.

He needed to lighten the mood though, now, before Sasuke's issues took over. So he winked at the brunet, grinning mischievously despite his own racing heart. "Like that, you'll like rafting, teme. Especially in the kayak."

Coal eyes narrowed on Naruto, knowing what he was attempting to do. Sasuke's mind fought a small internal war and decided finally to let the blond distract him from what had just happened. That kiss transcended physical desire and reached something far deeper in Sasuke that he didn't really feel stable enough to explore now. No, that was better saved for later.

"Hn."

"If you two are done kissing now, would you care to learn about our little adventure here?"

The voice sounded highly amused. Sasuke turned, suddenly remembering they had a third party present.

If possible, Kakashi's smile curved his eye even further as he watched the light dusting of pink blooming across the pale man's cheeks. It reminded him endearingly of his Iruka. Mentally he applauded Naruto's choice for that fact alone.

"Come on you two, seriously. If we're going to do this and finish on time, we need to get started. I know you can handle yourself and know the drill, Naruto, but I have no idea how much Sasuke knows and how much I need to show him still."

"Yeah, yeah…you're right, Kakashi." Naruto sighed, picking up the bags he'd dropped sometime during his discussion with Sasuke, and headed towards the raft again.

Behind him Sasuke had gone still at Kakashi's words, his back straightening.

"I've gone rafting before." Sasuke refused to let anyone think he was less than competent.

From the raft Naruto turned to look at the brunet and smiled. "Really? Cool. This will go faster then."

Sasuke's slightly defensive tone almost made Kakashi sigh. He hoped the kid wasn't one of those that thought they knew everything about rafting from having done it one time in their life.

"Okay. How many times?"

"Once."

"Hmm. For how long?"

Sasuke thought back. "Couple hours? Probably half a day or so."

Naruto looked at him again, assessing. "You like extreme sports, don't you, teme?"

Sasuke smirked. "Maybe." _Yeah._

From the raft he heard the amused snort.

Naruto was mentally patting himself on the back for making the right choice.

While Kakashi grilled Sasuke about what he knew and did not know about rafting and explained other basic safety measures about whitewater, Naruto went about packing the raft and getting it ready to go. He interrupted them occasionally with peppered questions to Sasuke about stuff he might want in his day bag for easy access and continued on when he'd been answered.

Before packing his own bag he'd pulled out the neoprene tops he'd placed there and stripped off his t-shirt to slide on the short sleeved black top. Emblazoned across the chest in orange was the kanji for 'fox' and nine licks of flame spreading around it. 'Demon' was written across the nape with the word 'Fox' intersecting vertically at the 'o', within which, if one looked carefully, the kanji was again emblazoned.

He had another for Sasuke in navy with long sleeves—the desert sun would fry that pale skin in minutes if it wasn't covered—and a smaller logo centered on the left in white. He pinned the Uchiha for the more traditional look.

"Hey Sasuke-teme, you better put this on before you start resembling a lobster," Naruto called out as he tossed the other top to his date.

Reflexively, Sasuke grabbed the material from the air and looked down at it, noting the popular brand of sport apparel as he checked the size. It was right. He glanced over at Naruto who was watching him. "Thanks."

"No problem." And the blond shot him one of those melt-in-your-mouth smiles that made Sasuke blatantly aware of Naruto's raw sex appeal.

_Fuck, the dobe was unreal._ Nobody should look good in Halloween colors, _ever_, and yet, somehow, Naruto did. The black set off the blond of his hair and the tan of his skin. The orange contrasted vividly with the blue of his eyes, making them seem brighter, bluer. And that neoprene was hugging those lean, corded muscle in all the right ways, leaving little and yet everything to the imagination. _Unreal..._

"Focus Sasuke," murmured the low voice from behind the small orange book that had appeared sometime in the middle of Kakashi's explanations.

"Sure Kakashi," Sasuke answered, tearing his eyes away from the blond to the lean man before him. He repeated back, verbatim, everything Kakashi had just explained to him.

Kakashi blinked once at him speculatively, surprised and yet not. "Well, you caught on to that much faster than Naruto did the first time."

Amused, the older man noted the pleased smirk that graced the Uchiha's features at the comment. "Alright Sasuke, just a few more things in the actual raft and we can get started."

"Can I put this on before you continue?" He asked, holding up the navy material.

"Hmm." All Sasuke got was a dismissive wave as half of the man's face immediately disappeared behind the orange book.

_Pervert._

Changed, the raft packed, Naruto turned his attention to the other two wanting to get in the water already. He was about to say something to them when his throat went dry and all capabilities for speech short circuited. There, not twenty feet from where he leaned on the raft, stood Sasuke slowly peeling off the dark tee he'd been wearing.

Fuck, he obviously hadn't been paying enough attention on Friday night. How had he missed that body, all lithe and defined and…_orgasmic?_ _—_his brain supplied. Oh yeah. That was definitely the word.

It was a swimmer's body, all long, lean muscle showcased to perfection by the insane definition. Naruto had the brief thought that you could have taught muscular anatomy off Sasuke's body, his muscles were so defined.

Gods, had a back ever been so sexy? Fascinated he watched the fluid play of Sasuke's delts sliding across his shoulders and the gliding trapezius and lat muscles beneath the smooth expanse of fair skin as he turned the top around in his hands and started to slide it on. He wanted to pout, to tell him to stop as all that pale flesh started disappearing from view. Then his eyes caught sight of another feature on Sasuke's back and he almost whimpered.

_Thumbprints._ Oh dear gods in heaven, Sasuke had thumbprint indents at the base of his spine!

Indents that were meant to be kissed, to be licked, to be laved with attention. His cock jumped, loving the idea. There was just something so ridiculously sexy about back dimples that never failed to turn him on. Naruto felt the irrational urge to go up to Sasuke and place his thumbs right over those delectable little 'fuck me' marks and see if they fit. Fuck…he wanted to pound that sexy ass into the mattress with his thumbs placed just there.

_Oh yeah…_The fantasy was immediately bumped to the top of his 'to do' list. Considering he'd spent the better half of the last few days doing nothing but fantasizing about the bastard in every position humanly possible—and some he wasn't sure were—when he actually got him into bed he was going to be keeping Sasuke very busy making each and every one of those thoughts a very genuine, three dimensional reality.

_You have no idea what you're in for, teme._

Sasuke slid on the top. And if it took him slightly longer than was necessary—really, it had nothing to do with the eyes he could nearly feel caressing every inch of his exposed skin—it was only because he was just trying to see if the shirt had a zipper or some other way of being put on.

He pulled the waist cinch, tightening it to his lean frame, and stretched. The material moved with him fluidly. Nice.

"You are going to be able to focus on actually paddling and not just stare at him all day, aren't you kiddo?" Kakashi asked, turning a page in his book, surprisingly close to Naruto.

The uncanny stealth of the other man once again startled Naruto. "Shit, Kakashi, you really have to stop doing that." Then the words sunk in and he felt the light heat spread on his cheeks and chuckled sheepishly. "Heh heh… of course! But seriously, you can't blame me for looking. I told you he was hot. And damn, did you see the thumbprints?! Ohhh…"

The slate blue eye looked up from his prized novel and met might bright blue ones before sliding over to the Uchiha who was making his way towards them and back again. He'd heard the kid wax poetic about back dimples before, knew his weakness for them and immediately decided that there was no way in hell Sasuke was sitting in front of the blond on the raft. The last thing he wanted was to crash into rocks or capsize because his former student couldn't stop staring at the small stretch of skin on his date's back.

"You're taking point, Naruto. Sasuke," Kakashi turned to the brunet, "what's the most important element on this trip?"

Sasuke restrained himself from rolling his eyes. He'd already repeated this point numerous times to Kakashi. He seemed really hung up on the concept.

"Teamwork."

The platinum blond nodded. "Good. I'll be in the back steering and giving you commands, so it's up to the both of you to work together and make sure we don't crash into anything. Or capsize."

"Okay."

"Roger that, Kakashi," Naruto added cheekily.

Amused despite himself at Naruto's never ending enthusiasm and wondering what would go wrong _today_—because something always happened to deviate from the plan when the blond was around and he could only hope it wouldn't be major—Kakashi waved them towards the raft and put away his beloved book in the safety of his day bag.

"Alright you two, lets get started."

There was a higher being, see. There had to be. Because it was nothing short of a miracle that they hadn't capsized or drowned at the first patch of rough whitewater they'd hit. At least that was Kakashi's take on the situation.

It hadn't even been that rough, just a couple level fives back to back. But Naruto and Sasuke had been so busy yelling at each other that they hadn't heard _him_ yelling at _them_ to pull left and they hit a sneaker wave head on.

Sasuke had almost gotten pitched overboard.

He was stuck in a small boat with two oversexed, overly competitive, proud idiots who were so hell bent on being right and being the best that they had reverted to acting like twelve year olds when they weren't doing their bizarre flirting/insulting mating ritual.

He had two and a half more days of this. Of _them._

He eyed the bright orange cover taunting him from the confines of its waterproof bag and resisted the urge to pull it out and hide behind it.

Sasuke chewed the last bite of his sandwich carefully watching the blond pout. The little idiot had been trying to steal—and not succeeding in the least—his sandwich for the last ten minutes.

"You could have shared, you know, teme?" Naruto pointed out before biting into an apple.

"You already had _two_ sandwiches, dobe."

"Yeah, yeah." He'd been trying to steal the sandwich more to keep Sasuke amused than from actually wanting to eat it. Well, maybe he'd wanted a little bit of it. But he had his apple. And really, he was thirsty much more than hungry. Speaking of which.

"Oi, Sasuke. Drink you water. You're a bottle behind." Naruto nudged the Uchiha's ankle with his foot for emphasis.

They were sitting in a little outcrop of shade. Sasuke was perched on a boulder, Naruto on the sandy floor facing him finishing up lunch. Not to far from them, in another shady spot Kakashi lounged peacefully, engrossed in his novel. They'd stopped here a little over an hour ago, gone on a small hike around the overhangs of the last rapid—which, after seeing what looked like a mass of petrified, wormy looking creatures, he'd decided had been named Fossil rapid for a very good reason—and were waiting till the sun wasn't quite so high in the sky.

Sasuke tipped up his water bottle, complying silently. Dehydration was not something he particularly wanted to deal with. When he finished he raised his brows at Naruto, who nodded.

"Better. So let me tell you about the next three rapids we'll hit."

From Kakashi's corner they distinctly heard, "you're kayaking!"

At that, bright blue eyes lit up with barely suppressed excitement. "Sweet! So Specter, Bedrock and Dubendorff. They're fun!"

Sasuke decided that Naruto had a very twisted idea of what 'fun' was.

Naruto and Sasuke were each in an inflatable kayak at this point with Kakashi taking the 16 ft. raft loaded with their supplies on his own.

"We're scouting ahead and catching some waves at Specter!" Naruto had yelled back to Kakashi as soon as they got underway. Kakashi had merely waved them off.

They stopped on the lounged around the ledges there, scoping out the waves and egging each other on. When Kakashi caught up with them they powered through.

They made it through Specter rapid with no problems. They had a clean line and made it downstream with just some hard splashing and a hard bounce. They watched as one of the boats from another trip got caught in the terminal eddy against the right wall and eventually muscled his way out and downstream.

Then all hell broke loose at Bedrock.

Naruto watched in morbid fascination as Sasuke, in his insistence to over take him, dropped into the rapid blind, missed the move to the right and disappeared into the "Room of Doom" on the left.

"SASUKE!"

_Fuck!_ The violent, surging eddies tossed him around, trying to flip him.

God damn it, he would NOT flip. No river, no matter how mighty, was going to get the best out of Sasuke Uchiha! And he certainly wasn't going to give Naruto a reason to gloat.

And sometime during his struggle with Nature, while he got dipped twice, nearly raked over rocks and spun around until he finally managed to pull hard to the high side and get spit out of the Room and into the eddy where Naruto and Kakashi were waiting for him, Sasuke realized he was actually having _fun_.

Naruto was staring at Sasuke, not quite sure that what he was seeing wasn't an illusion. The bastard was soaked and had to be kind of cold from the prolonged submersion in the water, but he was smirking, his cheeks were flushed and his midnight eyes were sparkling with vitality.

Not one to waste an opportunity, Naruto grinned back and yelled "race you to the next one!" as he sped off.

The fire flashed in Sasuke's eyes and he took off after the blond.

Dusk settled in painting the canyon walls around them in surreal colors that Sasuke wasn't sure he'd have believed were real if he weren't standing there.

He stepped out of the tent he was going to be sharing with Naruto, dry and warm in his fleece jacket and black flannel pants. He was still convinced it was a bad idea and that Naruto should bunk with Kakashi, though when Naruto had repeatedly pointed out that Kakashi was using his and Iruka's tent—_his and Iruka's, teme!_ _Eew. Don't be dense!_ —he'd taken pity on the blond and agreed—very reluctantly—to share his tent.

They would have to set up ground rules for the sharing of the tent. Yes, that was a good idea. He should talk to—hn, his shoulder was a little sore—Naruto about that right away.

Naruto had been sitting near where Kakashi stood prepping dinner, jabbering quietly at him and glancing at the tent every few minutes. Apparently they were having burgers since the steaks Kakashi had planned on cooking tonight had somehow managed to stay frozen.

Kakashi hadn't needed to turn around to know precisely when Sasuke emerged. Naruto had tapered off whatever he'd been saying for a few seconds before he'd picked up the thread of his story again. The kid had it bad.

"Dobe, about the tent…"

"Sasuke, how do you like your burger?" Kakashi interjected, catching the grin the blond shot at him.

Sasuke turned dark eyes towards Kakashi, vaguely annoyed at having been interrupted. "Um…medium? That's usually fine." Then he spied the half of a tomato that hadn't been sliced for the burgers and swiped it.

"May I?" he asked, holding up the red fruit. Kakashi nodded his acquiescence and when he bit into the fruit—mmm, so good. Juicy. Perfect—Naruto made a funny, slightly grossed out face at him.

"I didn't make faces at you when you inhaled eight bowls of ramen on Friday, dobe, so stop looking at me like that."

"But…but it's a tomato. A _plain_ tomato!"

"Tch. Obviously. What's your point?" Sasuke replied, unconsciously wincing as he moved his arm. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the gesture.

"Kakas-"

Kakashi interrupted by giving him the small container he'd been about to ask for. Naruto looked him over. Seriously. Sometimes genius was creepy.

"Here, Sasuke. Take a couple of these. It'll keep the pain from getting much worse." Naruto held his hand out to Sasuke, two pills nestled in his palm.

Sasuke eyed the pills and the blond skeptically.

"It's just a painkiller, teme. Paddling the river is rough. It's bound to make your back and shoulders scream in agony if you're not used to it."

Sasuke took the pills but didn't swallow them yet. "How come you're not taking any?"

He would not roll his eyes. He would not roll his eyes at Sasuke. No, he wouldn't, Naruto chanted slowly in his mind.

"I already took 'em. While you were changing. Preemptive strike, so to speak."

"Hn," The brunet answered with a shrug and popped the pills into his mouth. He took the opened bottle of water Naruto offered and drank them down.

Dinner was a quick and simple affair with Naruto doing most of the talking, as usual, and the occasional question or comment from the other two men. They cleaned up and put stuff away and Kakashi quickly vanished into his tent warning them not to stay up too late because he wanted to start on time tomorrow, much to Naruto's amusement.

"I don't know why he bothers. He's always the one running late. I think it's his way of rebelling for always having to be early when he was in the Corps."

He ducked inside the tent and Sasuke followed. Oh yes, the tent. "Naruto—"

Blue eyes watched as Sasuke features minutely contracted in pain. "Hey, you're still wincing. Lemme put some sports cream on your shoulder. It'll help, I swear!" Naruto dove for his bag, digging through it, not waiting for a response.

"Naruto…" Sasuke's tone was cautious. It made Naruto look up from his bag just as he located the small tube and tilt his head at the Uchiha before his trademark smile appeared.

"Don't worry teme, it's just a friendly shoulder rub. For your own good." A golden brow rose as another thought came to him.

"Unless you're worried that me putting my talented hands on your sexy body is gonna make you wanna jump me like you wanted to on Friday? Not that I'm particularly opposed to the idea…" Cerulean sparkled mischievously.

"Hn." The derisive snort pretty much answered the question. "No. That was a one time, irrevocable offer, dobe. And _you_ made your irrevocable choice. "

Sasuke unzipped the fleece and set it down beside him. The long sleeved shirt he'd been wearing underneath went neatly folded on top. He looked over a pale shoulder at the blond.

"Get on with it, Naruto."

"Did I Sasuke-teme? That's too bad then, isn't it…?" And suddenly Sasuke wasn't quite sure what he was talking about as strong, nimble hands began to knead the tense flesh of his shoulder.

He didn't even try to bite back the little sound the painfully pleasurable sensation brought to his throat.

"Relax. You're too tense, teme…" Naruto murmured softly into the pale pink shell of Sasuke's right ear. A visible shiver slid down the spine in front of him.

He kneaded and rubbed the muscles he'd been so entranced by earlier and soaked up the small noises of pleasure the brunet didn't seem to know he was making. _Damn, his back is so much better up close._

When Sasuke's head rolled to the side, exposing the long column of his pale throat, Naruto resisted the urge to bite down there. _Easy Naruto, keep it friendly… _

Okay. Right. Friendly massage. That's all this was. He exhaled, blowing his bangs up, trying to convince himself.

"Lie down, Sasuke…it'll be easier that way"

Sasuke thought of protesting. Something, somewhere in the back of his brain told him he should. But those hands felt so good and the sports cream was starting to warm against his skin, forcing his muscles to relax along with the painkillers. And really, he was tired…so when the hands pushed him down softly, he let them and just stretched out.

"Good. That's good, teme."

Naruto talked to Sasuke, telling him random things, soothing him with his voice until he felt all the knots and kinks work themselves out that beautiful, muscular back. And because he couldn't help himself—really, they were right there!—he slid his hands down that strong, smooth expanse of skin and so gently placed his thumbs right over those indents astride the base of Sasuke's spine.

_Perfect fit._

Naruto closed his eyes for a second, gathering his quickly scattering good intentions and slowly pulled his hands away from the now warmed, pale skin.

Sasuke squirmed a little when he removed his hands—and seriously made him double think his decision, seeing as he'd been practically purring beneath his fingers—but really, it was better if he put his shirt back on. As annoying and uppity as he could be, Naruto really didn't want the bastard sick.

"_Sasuke_…"

Gods, he loved that voice. It was a physical caress to hear that voice say his name like that. It was almost as good as the hands. Except that voice could reach him deep inside and stroke him places the hands couldn't begin to reach. He wriggled slightly.

"Sasuke, put them back on…"

"Hn?" He slid open one sleepy eye and saw his shirt being held up to his face. "Oh, okay…" Drowsily, he pulled back on the layers and immediately lay back down. Something was missing though. He squirmed.

Naruto returned his hands, amused, to the brunet's back, rubbing small circles over on it. Sasuke was all but purring once more. He leaned forward again, letting his lip just whisper caress an earlobe with his words.

"About that offer…"

_Hn? What offer?_

"Irrevocable…" Sasuke murmured the first word that came to mind sleepily just before slumber claimed him.

Naruto watched him silently for a few minutes, drinking in the pale features lying at his side, before an easy smile curved over his lips.

"We'll see about that."

TBC


	7. Playing Dirty

A/N: OMG IT"S DONE!!

passes out

I wanna hear no complaints about how long this took! Cause seriously, y'all are getting some mad, MAD loving in the form of a 9,022 WORD chapter!! XD

That's right. This is one is MASSIVE! Lol. I'm actually fairly pleased with how it turned out. It's fun and playful and emotional and then oh, gods, smexy. Oh yeah. There are definitely goodies in this chapter.

Word of warning. I finished writing this at 5 in the morning last night so I could get it done. And then I rushed my beta to beta it (Kaikii you are love incarnate and I would be a useless, miserable failure without you!!), so if there are any snafus and mistakes they are completely MY fault! Lol. I am more than willing to take the hit for that one. So yeah, if you see anything that needs fixing, let me know? Thanks! :D

Also, I want to thank all of the wonderful, amazing people that both read and/or reviewed the last chapter. I'm sorry if I never responded, truly. I've been in finals and leading a crazy hectic life. Just know that I appreciate you enormously! You rock my world, well and truly. You're all the best!

-huggles you all-

And now for the good stuff.

Enjoy!!

**HIGH STAKES PT. 7.1 - PLAYING DIRTY**

Naruto sat in the dim light of pre-dawn, ankles crossed, arms draped loosely around raised knees, watching the sleeping figure not five feet from him.

He wondered briefly if it was creepy to watch a sleeping person, well…sleep?

_Oh well, what the teme doesn't know won't hurt him. _

He wouldn't quite say the bastard looked peaceful in sleep—that wasn't the word that came to mind, _at all_—but Sasuke's striking features, normally so carefully controlled to reveal nothing of what he was feeling, or thinking, were much more relaxed. _Unguarded,_ his mind supplied. Yeah. That was the word.

The blond drank his fill of the sight—he knew, somehow, this was a side of Sasuke not many saw—and wondered if he'd stayed the other night what other hidden facets he might have seen. Would he have woken tangled in the other's limbs as he had earlier?

He sighed, perching his elbow on a knee and his chin in his palm, his eyes never leaving Sasuke's slumbering form as his mind drifted to that memory.

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Something had been tickling his senses and his cheek. Something very soft, silky even. It had roused him gently from sleep—the first night's sleep in four days where he hadn't been tossing and turning—and made his eyes reluctantly flutter open to discover what the culprit was. The inky strands that swayed so gently with every one of his breaths, maintaining their teasing, tickling, game made his eyes widen and caused his gaze to lower.

To say he was surprised to see—and feel, now that he was aware of it—Sasuke's limbs tangled enticingly around his own would have been the understatement of Naruto's life. But there he was, smirking, sneering, proud Uchiha Sasuke pressed flush against his left arm—which was tingling with the pins and needles thanks to the weight against and half on top of it—his leg entwined between both of Naruto's, his chin resting lightly on his shoulder as he almost—and he had a feeling the Uchiha would be quick to dismember him on the spot if he heard the word applied to himself, ever—cuddled into his side in his sleep.

Naruto didn't want to move, didn't even want to breathe for fear that he'd wake the bastard and receive a tongue lashing or worse. He was sure that Sasuke would find someway to pin the fault for this whole situation on him. Even though it was clearly not _his_ fault, he wasn't the one on the wrong side of the tent after all.

He sighed. He was too tense to fall back asleep and too tired to move. And if he was honest with himself, which he usually was, to an almost brutal degree, he didn't really want to. He wasn't exactly uncomfortable and, really, it was nice to feel Sasuke beside him.

Gradually, when the brunet didn't wake in a fit of anger, Naruto started relaxing again. Except now he was fully awake and he couldn't sleep.

_This is all your fault, teme, _he thought, somewhat affectionately, glancing down at Sasuke again.

If he hadn't fallen asleep _on top_ of his sleeping bag, instead of inside it—Naruto hadn't had the heart to wake him again. He knew Sasuke needed the sleep to relax his straining muscles after the long day they'd had—there's no way he would have ended up interlaced with Naruto. And it wasn't Naruto's fault he always slept on top of his bag—he always got too hot inside of the things—or that they only had one blanket—which Naruto had magnanimously laid over a sleeping Sasuke instead of taking it for himself—but it looked like even in sleep Sasuke was ungrateful, as he'd abandoned the blanket—sort of, as only a small scrap of it was trapped between their bodies and draped over Sasuke's hip—in favor of good old-fashioned body heat.

Which considering how bundled up he was Naruto couldn't understand why he even needed it. Whereas he was laying in thin track pants and long sleeved tee, Sasuke was bundled up nearly from head to toe in a light fleece, a long sleeve shirt, black flannel pants and socks.

He felt the softest twitch of a smile at the corner of his mouth as he took in the sight of the bundled, cuddling Sasuke—his mind again reminded him to NEVER mention these adjectives to the brunet if he valued his life—and felt a soft squeeze around his heart. He had an urge to move the inky bangs that had fallen into Sasuke's eyes and kiss that pale forehead gently. Before he'd even registered the thought, his body was moving to comply.

His fingers brushed back the black silk, just skimming an angular cheekbone before tucking the strands behind Sasuke's ear. His head turned, bending just the littlest bit, and his lips dusted the barest whisper of a kiss onto Sasuke's brow.

He pulled back slowly, alarm setting into his features, making his hand tremble slightly, as the impact of what he'd just done hit him. He'd never done that before. Never felt the need to. It just wasn't something you did with a casual fling or a one-night stand.

That was just sex, skin on sweaty skin, sliding, slick. No emotions, no complications, no intimacy. A soft, tender kiss with no expectation of leading to more, given just because…because…

That was far more intimate than any sexual thing Naruto had ever done.

It was something you did with someone you cared for. Someone you loved.

_Loved._

Right. It was time to untangle himself. Yep. Definitely. He just needed a little distance. A little cuddling and he was obviously losing his mind. After all, he'd only known the bastard for four days. And sure he liked him, even liked him a lot, perhaps even a little more—alright, he admitted he'd been falling for the prickly bastard—but people didn't actually fall completely in love in five days. Nope. That just didn't happen. Exactly.

Breathe, Naruto. Just _breathe_.

He did. It helped. Only a little though. But that was enough to make him start trying to slide out of the sweet tangle he was in. He just had to do it without waking Sasuke.

He reached for the pale hand lying across his belly and right before he reached it, Sasuke moved.

And when Sasuke shifted, his hand slid lower. Very low, in fact. So low that if his hand moved another inch south, Sasuke would be getting a handful of Naruto's favorite body part.

Naruto whimpered as vivid images accompanied the thought and his body betrayed him.

Oh fuck. Oh no. No. No, no, no. This was wrong, very wrong. Sasuke was sleeping for goodness sake! This was…_Ohhh..._

His unbidden erection suddenly reached the long, elegant fingers that had woken it and it liked that. It apparently liked that very much. This time Naruto bit his lip to keep from making a noise, though it was hard considering the sight of Sasuke's hand resting on his half-hardened cock was erotic as fuck.

But it was wrong—why again?_ 'Cause I'm asleep, idiot_, he could virtually hear the teme speaking in his head—and as such he should remedy the situation immediately, Naruto told himself. His hand reached again and like before Sasuke shifted at the same time.

This time, the pale hand slid up and away from dangerous territory._ Oh thank god_. Naruto thanked whoever was watching out from above for the small favor.

And then he quickly cursed them again when the leg that had tangled between his own slid up. He could feel the top of that muscled thigh right there, just out of his reach. _Fuuck_, if he just scooted down, just a bit, Sasuke's thigh would be rubbing against him, providing delicious friction for the problem his hand had caused.

Bastard. Even in sleep he was tempting.

But he was Uzumaki Naruto! He could do this. He would. No sexy as hell, sleeping Uchiha bastard was getting the better of him! Believe it!

The pep talk helped calm his heart a little and banked the fires of hormonal passion just enough that Naruto felt safe moving. He nudged Sasuke's leg with his own softly, causing it to slide back down to a safe distance.

He looked at Sasuke. He showed no sign of stirring awake. Good. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Emboldened by his prior success he used his right leg to lift and push Sasuke's left off his own as he wiggled slightly away until suddenly, he was free. Yes! Victory!

Alright, he was doing well. Now he had to move that hand splayed across his stomach. He reached for it, waiting for the shift, but this time none occurred. Okay. That was good. He picked it up, resisted the strong urge to lace his fingers with it, and placed it on Sasuke's thigh.

He waited a second, double checked Sasuke was still sleeping, and resumed his mission. All he had to do now was get Sasuke's head completely onto the pillow instead of half on his shoulder. That task would be harder he knew, but he was on a mission and there was no room for failure. Really there wasn't, because if he failed, there would be ravaging of one Uchiha Sasuke without his consent.

He licked his suddenly dry lips. Failure sounded so, _so_ tempting. Oh, but Uzumaki Naruto did NOT fail! _BELIEVE IT!_ Okay. Pep talk. Good. That always helped.

He turned his head to watch Sasuke's face as he so very torturously slowly started to inch… his… shoulder... down. And then he heard it.

"_Naru...to…"_

Holy shit! Really, Naruto could only take so much temptation before the need to roll over, pin that body to ground and kiss those pretty pink lips until they called his name just like that, only louder, and breathier, moaning for him to touch, to taste, to take everything that was Sasuke and claim it for himself, forever, overtook him.

His hands shook with the effort to quickly, but gently free himself. He needed to, had to get away. _Now_.

Naruto knew that if Sasuke breathed his name like that again and he wasn't completely untangled and on the other side of the tent or further away his self control would snap and he would pounce. Pounce and ravage and consume the prickly, beautiful bastard that was quickly proving to be his undoing.

Speed and time were of the essence now, much more so than gentleness, so Naruto quickly slid his shoulder free, the move so fast Sasuke's head barely shifted on the pillow. He breathed a slow sigh of relief as he scooted away before standing. He needed to put distance between them, between his hunger and its temptation.

Naruto headed for the tent entrance and stepped out. A second later he darted back in, spreading the nearly abandoned blanket over Sasuke's form. Shooting Sasuke a rueful smile that he wouldn't see in his slumbering state, Naruto stepped back outside for some much needed cold air.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It had been so warm. But it was cold now. He shivered.

Sasuke noticed vaguely that there was a warm patch beside him and slid into it, wrapping the blanket tighter around him as he snuggled deeper into the pillow.

_Hmm… it smells like Naruto._

That was probably just him dreaming again though.

Very quickly, he was back asleep, dreaming of a blond man sleeping at his side.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Hungry?" Kakashi's low, lazy voice didn't surprise him. Not like it had when he'd been younger.

He'd been prone then—well, in reality he still was—to midnight snacking and had often found himself wondering around Iruka's in the middle of the night, heading for the kitchen. Which had been fine, until the first time Kakashi had spent the night. Naruto, in his nine and a half-year-old panic at encountering some _man_ wondering around his house at three in the morning, had nearly screamed. Would have too, if Kakashi hadn't been so quick in crossing the room and covering his mouth lightly with his hand.

Naruto remembered staring in awe, rather than fear, at the man. He hadn't even heard him move. It was like one minute he'd been on the couch and then next he was crouched in front of Naruto at the base of the stairs, as if he'd 'poofed' there by magic. He remembered thinking Kakashi was super cool, like a ninja, the second he'd recognized the scarred man.

Kakashi had asked him the same question then in that same, low, lazy tone and he'd nodded his little blond head, wondering if the new guy was going to get in the way of his snack. But he hadn't, he'd just followed him into the kitchen quietly and asked him if he did this often.

"Uh huh. I wake up hungry and then can't go back to sleep and then I have to come down here," he whispered conspiratorially into the quiet night.

Kakashi remembered asking him what he usually ate.

"Peanut butter and jelly. Sometimes milk and cookies. At first, just peanut butter sandwiches though, cause I was scared I'd wake 'ruka up if I opened the fridge. But then I learned that he could sleep through a tornado and not wake up, so it was okay." Naruto had answered in his honest, babbling way as he made his sandwich.

Then Naruto had asked him a question, tilting his head as he did so. "Were you hungry too? Is that how come you're up like me right now?"

Kakashi remembered being surprised by the unexpected and innocent question. He hadn't had to answer to anyone about his sleeping habits in…well, ever, really. He couldn't really tell the little boy the truth, he wouldn't have understood. So he'd answered the best he could. "Maybe? I just remember waking up and not being able to get back to sleep."

And Naruto, sweet, young, innocent Naruto, had cut his sandwich diagonally and given half to Kakashi. "You can have half. And a glass of milk. That always helps me sleep, maybe it helps you too."

He watched Naruto pour two glasses of milk, his tongue peeking out of the side in concentration.

"Okay." What else could you say to a little kid that just offered you half of their midnight snack just so you could get back to sleep? So he took his glass and his half of the sandwich and ate quietly while Naruto filled the silence with his stories. And something dark and icy had melted in Kakashi that night and made him a little more human again.

That was the day Naruto and Kakashi had become friends.

The incident repeated itself with such frequency afterwards that it became a sort of ritual between them. He'd grown up having midnight talks with Kakashi, who, he'd learned, was sometimes much easier to talk to than Iruka. Especially about embarrassing subjects during puberty. He tended not to blush as much as Iruka did.

It was only when Naruto was older that he'd learned the real reason Kakashi spent half the night awake. His dreams haunted him with nameless faces from countless missions from the years he'd been a Seal and before. Inevitably they would wake him and then he'd head downstairs and read his book until he was tired enough to go upstairs, curl into Iruka and fall into a dreamless sleep. At some point during this Naruto usually came down craving his midnight snack, which during his teen years had switched from peanut butter and jelly to instant ramen. Kakashi always asked him the same question, the answer was always affirmative and then they would eat together while he rambled about whatever had happened to him that day and asked his advice, if needed.

So the soft question didn't surprise Naruto this time. Was he hungry? His thoughts wandered to the lean, pale body he'd left behind in the tent tangled up around his own, that roaming, elegant hand, that shifting , muscular leg and those pale pink lips parting on the barest whisper of his name so seductively that his control had nearly snapped. Oh yes, he was hungry. He was very, _very_ hungry, but not for anything related to food.

"Yeah…something like that…"

The unusual response had Kakashi arching a brow and eyeing the young blond knowingly. They would talk this night, he could tell. He stood and gathered the necessary supplies and soon Naruto had a peanut butter sandwich on his lap.

He blinked at it a few times before picking it up and smiled in recognition. "Thanks."

They sat in companionable silence as he ate, Naruto watching the stars, Kakashi reading his book, until Naruto broke the silence.

"Kakashi…how do you know when you're in love?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Slowly, Naruto's thoughts drifted back to the present. He watched Sasuke sleep—albeit from a much safer distance—and noticed the first ray of light hit the tent, casting soft dapples of warm color across the proud, perfect face.

He really should wake the bastard, Naruto thought, so he could watch the sunrise in the canyon at least once. They were beautiful in this part of the canyon, with its little creeks and small waterfalls. Serene, romantic. Even the bastard would have a hard time resisting the appeal.

It was too bad he didn't like mornings though, he probably wouldn't get to do this again for some time.

Oh. That was true. Yes. He definitely needed to watch the sunrise. Who knew when he'd be back? A playful grin split his face as the thought came to him.

Naruto uncrossed his legs and nudged Sasuke's thigh with his toe. "Oi, teme, wake up."

Nothing.

Undeterred, he nudged harder. When nothing happened again, he crawled across the tent floor to get closer.

"Teme…" He poked him in the shoulder. Once, twice, three times until inky lashes fluttered.

Sasuke squinted at the smiling _thing_ that was filling his vision, wondering why it was poking him.

"Wake up, bastard…oh you are, good. Get up then." _It _spoke.

Sasuke's half lidded eyes looked around the _thing_ and he noticed it was still dark. He scowled—it wasn't nearly as menacing when he was practically asleep and his muscles weren't fully cooperating, Naruto noted—wondering, _why?_

"Sun's not up yet…" The brunet murmured, closing his eyes and turning around to go back to sleep.

Naruto eyed the back now turned to him and rolled his eyes.

"That's the point. It will be, in five minutes."

"Then I don't have to get up for another five minutes…" was the slightly muffled reply as Sasuke snuggled down into a pillow—_his_ pillow, Naruto noticed, mouth twitching into an amused smile.

"You can't watch the sunrise if you're asleep for it, idiot. Wake up!" And this time his finger went into a rib and wiggled. The startled squeak and sudden twitch he was rewarded with had him grinning stupidly.

_Too easy._

"What is it with you _morning people_?! Why can't you let the rest of us _normal_ people sleep like the universe intended? Go away." This was the indignant, huffed reply from the pillow as Sasuke pulled the blanket tighter around him.

Naruto sat back on his heels, lips pursed. Apparently the teme didn't think sunrises at one of the Seven Wonders of the World were worth getting up for. _Okay then_—Naruto's smile turned just a little bit wicked and lascivious as he realized that Sasuke was now at least half awake—_I'll give him something to wake up for._

Naruto knelt back up on all fours and lowered his lips until they were hovering just centimeters from Sasuke's ear. He puffed out a little breath, scattering the dark strands there and his mouth lowered just a little more.

"_Sasuke…_"

Ohh. It was back, that voice. That voice had been in his dreams whispering all sorts of…enticing things to him before he'd been so rudely awoken. _Mmm_… _Dobe…_

Naruto didn't miss the little shiver.

"Come on,_ Sasuke…_watch the sunrise with me…it'll be_…fun…" _And if, as he whispered, his tongue darted out and flicked the shell of that ear just slightly, well, there was no harm in that right? It wasn't his fault the teme had such delicious looking ears.

Sasuke floated there in that place somewhere between sleep and consciousness and listened to the voice. It was sending little sparks of pleasure down from his ear. His ear? Hnn…that was weird. Ohh…but that felt nice. And that voice made 'fun' sound… appealing…erotic…

"Fun…?" He murmured, subconsciously reacting and turning his head towards that voice.

Naruto might have pouted at the loss of that earlobe, would have, maybe, if he hadn't found himself one hard inch from the corner of Sasuke's slightly parted lips. Hypnotized, unable to move, Naruto stared at temptation.

He remembered how soft they were when he'd traced his tongue over them before sucking that full bottom lip into his mouth. He recalled the rich, intoxicating and dangerous taste that was Sasuke. He really wanted to feel that softness again, taste that power again…

"Yeah, fun…" Naruto whispered softly as he finally let the heady sensation overtake him and sank into the kiss.

_Ohh… _A swipe of tongue, a nip of teeth, warm, full lips pressing into his own…this was better than a dream or it was the best dream ever. It felt so real, that kiss, that tongue teasing at his lips, asking wordlessly for permission.

Naruto groaned, unable to help himself, as Sasuke granted him access. He explored lazily, his tongue sampling and memorizing the feel of Sasuke's mouth, teasing the other into playfulness until they danced and chased each other from between Sasuke's lips to Naruto's and back again. Gods, he could do this forever.

_What are you doing to me, Sasuke?_

Sasuke woke fully to a soft, pleased humming sound and the feel of a tongue slowly tracing the seam of his lips. That felt nice, he thought, as his tongue darted out to tease back, sinking into that summer night taste, and his hand reached up to fist in thick, blond hair.

_Mmm…do it again, dobe…_

His eyes flashed open in shock at that thought and he saw that yes, Naruto was in fact kissing him. He didn't know when that had happened or how that had started and…fuck! So Sasuke did the only logical, Sasuke thing to do.

He shoved Naruto back as hard as he could.

"Idiot, get off me! You're not supposed to molest people when they're sleeping you know?!"

Blue eyes narrowed. "You weren't asleep and I wasn't _molesting_ you, bastard! You had my head in a vice grip and _your_ tongue down _my_ throat, in case you weren't paying attention."

"Hn." Sasuke refused to admit to anything of the sort.

Naruto took in the crossed arms and defiant gaze over the light blush and gave up all hope that the bastard would ever NOT look sexy to him. Even with that crazy hair sticking up all over the place and a pale pink line on one cheek from the pillow he'd been sleeping on, he looked downright edible.

_Focus, Naruto. You woke him for a reason, remember? Sunrise, romantic setting, getting him to open up and relax around you?_

Oh yeah. That. "Oi, relax Sasuke-teme. Look, I won't mention it again…" Sasuke glanced at him suspiciously from the corner of his eye. That was unlike the dobe. He never gave up that easily.

"But…" Ah, there it was. "But, you have to follow me right now. Come on!"

Sasuke eyed the hand extended towards him from the standing blond and debated whether that was actually safe or not. And goddamn it, did it have to be so early?!

"Sasuke…"

"Hn. You play dirty, dobe."

Still, he let the blond pull him to his feet. If his hand lingered in that strong grip a second or two longer than was necessary it was only because he wanted to make sure he had his balance. He'd only just woken up after all. Right. It had nothing to do with how warm those hands were or how nice they it felt to have their fingers interlaced—because of course it didn't; handholding was so NOT something Uchiha's did.

A golden brow shot up at the Uchiha's words and a smirk curved over Naruto's lips. He rubbed a circle on the elegant with his thumb.

"You have no idea, teme."

Sasuke blinked at the blond—no, his stomach had not just flipped deliciously at the implication. Not at all. And damn it, could he stop doing that with his thumb?!

"Hn."

Sasuke tugged his hand free—no, that was not reluctantly. He was perfectly content keeping his hands to himself. Even if the warmth had been kind of nice—and mumbled, "Where are we going, dobe?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. He'd already said this. Twice! "To watch the sunrise, Sasuke-teme. Now hurry or we'll miss it."

Already a black brow was arching. "All this for a sunrise?"

Naruto shot Sasuke a grin over his shoulder. "No. All this over a Grand Canyon sunrise."

And then they both stepped out.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Alright, so Sasuke could admit, grudgingly, that it had been a very nice sunrise. Beautiful even. The idiot had made him hike up into a little outcropping overlooking a 100 foot waterfall and they'd sat there, side by side, as the sky slowly lit up. The morning light had bounced off that waterfall so brightly, making it sparkle like a spill of diamonds.

And when Naruto had scooted closer, pulling an edge of the blanket around him, he hadn't said anything. The smile he'd received in turn though had made his heart skip a beat. If he'd been more alert he might have even summed up the energy to worry about it. But he hadn't, so he also hadn't protested too much when Naruto had leaned his head on his shoulder as he told him about Iruka, one of his elementary school teachers, adopting him when he'd been eight, a little less than two years after his dad had died—_I'm sorry_, he'd interjected, knowing what that particular pain felt like. _Don't be, _he'd replied, squeezing his hand reassuringly, _it wasn't your fault. Life happens_—because no one could locate any of his relatives and Tsunade, his dad's lawyer and his temporary guardian, didn't want him to become a ward of the state.

He talked about Kakashi joining their ranks, as the ex-Seal often said, and his uncle Jiraiya finally getting the notices and flying over immediately from wherever he'd been doing 'research', which Sasuke had been told, was Jiraiya's euphemism for being pervy, only to discover Naruto was already adopted and adapted to his new family. Since then he'd spent the school year with Iruka and Kakashi and at least part of his summer vacation traveling with his uncle.

And somewhere in the middle of a story involving ramen, Pakkun, one of Kakashi's dogs and Kiba he'd noticed that Naruto had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He'd considered poking him awake—as he'd been so rudely poked that morning—then remembered that Naruto had been up for much longer than he had and ,in a moment of very un-Uchiha like compassion, he'd just let him doze. And since he'd been sleeping, Sasuke hadn't really seen the harm in placing his arm around the blond. Just to make sure he didn't fall backwards of course.

Maybe, he conceded, the dobe wasn't all bad. He was kind of…amusing…to have around, even if he never stopped talking. And he was…thoughtful…even if you'd never guess that from his self-assured cocky attitude.

He brushed a lock of sunshine hair that was tickling his ear back and unaware of it, began running his hands through the golden strands. And…he wasn't hard on the eyes—not that he'd ever admit that to the blond. When he realized what he was doing almost a minute later he dropped his hand like he'd been burnt and stared at the blond head on him, surprise and wariness in his eyes_. And maybe he was dangerous…_his mind supplied.

When the sun had fully risen, some fifteen minutes later, he'd knocked his head lightly on Naruto's and shouldered him off to wake him. They'd made their way back down to camp and had started breakfast and then had to wait about an hour for Kakashi to finally surface.

The pointed exchange of Naruto accusing him of being late and Kakashi rattling off some lame excuse about the road of life seemed like an established ritual of sorts and Sasuke had just watched, somewhat fascinated and completely baffled by it all. All he and Itachi did was glare at each other if they had the audacity to make the other wait.

Now they were in another side canyon, Matkatamiba, or something like that, after a few smaller rapids, nothing compared to the last three of yesterday where they'd both ended up tossed into a hole and soaking wet, and Naruto kept going on and on about how this was the best hike on the trip. So they were in for a long afternoon break.

"Seriously teme, I can't describe it, but trust me, you're going to love this."

Kakashi led the hike into the narrow gorge. It twisted and turned and looped around. Sasuke noted that he obviously knew the route by heart.

The walls were fascinating and completely different from the main canyon. They looked like individual slabs had been placed one on top of the other almost haphazardly, undulating softlyu. And then, above that narrow entrance, the gorge opened up into a Garden of Eden oasis that was simply breathtaking.

Naruto was grinning as he watched Sasuke trying to take in the raw beauty of this place and saw the awe in his eyes. For all his cold, unreadable demeanor, he had very expressive eyes.

"Naruto, this is…" Sasuke wasn't sure he knew the word for what this was. Obviously he'd been spending too much time cooped up in his office if some rocks and a creek were leaving him speechless, but seriously, it was a sight to behold.

"Yeah, I know." They stood quietly, side by side, much like they had in the morning during the sunrise, looking at the canyon, not needing to speak to understand each other. Then Naruto shot him one of those mile-wide grins of his, grabbed his hand and pulled him along to explore.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Oh god, I'll be so glad when we get to Havasu. My arms are killing me!" Naruto had taken over the raft and given up the kayak to Kakashi, whom, he knew, enjoyed the rapids as much as he did. He'd watched in mild amusement as the challenging glint had come into Sasuke's eyes the second he'd seen Kakashi's surreally graceful paddling.

Where Naruto was talented on the water, Kakashi was downright masterful. He'd figured the teme's pride wouldn't let him take it in stride and, sure enough, Sasuke had begun to watch Kakashi's movements with a hawk-like intensity until he'd—somewhat to Naruto's surprise—begun to copy them. He had to give the bastard credit, he had good eyes.

Upset rapid had almost, but not quite, resulted in carnage. Kakashi had surfed the top of the crazy hole at Upset and, after hovering on the edge of disaster there for about three seconds, he'd managed to power downstream. The happy, squinty-eyed smile after the fact showed Naruto how much he enjoyed the danger at times.

And though the three of them had had fun joking and yelling, teasing and insulting each other back and forth, his arms hurt and he couldn't wait to go swim in the warm, spring fed pools of Havasu Creek and just relax for the remainder of the day.

No sooner had they pulled in and secured the raft that Naruto had grabbed Sasuke's wrist again and begun leading him away. "Come on Sasuke, waterfall time!"

"What? Wait! Oi, dobe!"

Kakashi noticed that despite the fact that his protests had gone unheeded by the blond, Sasuke seemed resignedly amused to be led away.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Nnnnggghh!" Naruto's eyes were crossing in pleasure. Oh Kami-sama that felt sooo good. If he moved just a little… "Fuuuck!"

Pleasure laden, half-lidded blue eyes met his own. "Sasuke…god…it's orgasmic, I swear."

Sasuke knew his breathing had sped up, just a little, and his cock, gods, it was uncomfortably hard after having watched that little shower fantasy come to life. Fuck, but the idiot was hot!

"Hn. I would have never guessed by the noises you were making, dobe."

"Shut up and get under here, teme. You'll thank me for it." Naruto asserted as he started dragging Sasuke towards the falls that had just been beating down on his sore muscles, giving him the most exquisite massage.

"Will I? How exactly _should_ I thank you, Naruto?"

Sasuke surprised himself. He hadn't meant to say anything. Teasing, flirting, insinuating comments were so unlike him. But really, the combination of that sinfully beautiful body without a shirt on, the sex noises and the rapture filled expression on the blond's face as water sluiced over his body… even Uchihas had limits.

The words stopped Naruto in his tracks and his head turned, slowly to regard Sasuke over his shoulder. The cerulean orbs, filled with mirth and pleasure seconds ago, narrowed and flashed in predatory lust.

"_Sasuke_…"

Damn. He could live forever and he'd never get enough of that voice.

"…Don't start something you don't intend to finish, _teme_…"

Jet black flashed in response, fueled by the implication. Sasuke stepped towards the blond, so close it would have been more natural to be touching, and breathed into his ear.

"I always finish what _I_ start, _Naruto._"

Then he pulled back, walked around the frozen blond and stepped under the spray of the falls.

_Fuck. Fuck. Get a hold of yourself, Naruto. _

He closed his eyes, sucking in a ragged breath. That was so much easier said than done. He could feel his heart raging, pumping blood loudly and harshly throughout his body, most of it spilling south to the raging, almost painful erection straining against his board shorts. His lungs were doing their best to suck in the air that seemed to have vanished with Sasuke's words. And his body, his body was trying not to shake with the fierce need the arrogant bastard had ignited with his proximity, with his breath ghosting over his skin.

Naruto turned again slowly, so slowly, almost afraid of what he'd find. Sure enough, the sight that met him hit him like a physical blow and almost brought him to his knees.

_Sasuke, fuck!_

He stood there, head arched back in pleasure, lips parted on a moan too soft to hear over the thunder of the falls, water running down, down all over his body. Down his face, his throat, to his chest, over his nipples—oh god, his nipples were so pink on that creamy skin and hard from the spray and the cold, baiting him to come lick, suck, bite…._ngghh!_—down over his abs and lower, most drops disappearing under the low hanging board shorts, save for the few to tangle in that barely there trail of dark hair that contrasted so vividly with that fair white skin before they too vanished southwards.

_Stupid, fucking, droplets. _

He forced his eyes up, cursing the water droplets that were touching Sasuke, _his_ Sasuke, as he went, until they reached that face once more. And, as if aware that he now had Naruto's complete attention, Sasuke's eyes snapped open.

_You going to run again, Naruto?_

Gasoline to a burning fire might have been less combustible, Sasuke would think later.

That look, that cocky, taunting look finally snapped his control. He'd been trying to be good, to take it easy, to not scare the skittish bastard into running again, but really a man had his limits, and he'd been put through this hell more times than he cared to remember today, and enough was fucking enough.

"Naruto, what…?" He hadn't seen him move. When had he crossed those last few feet? All he knew were that hands, strong, tan, powerful hands wrapped into his upper arms, shoving him backwards, underneath, behind the falls, where the spray was lighter, almost rain like.

"Shut up." His eyes flashed and, if they could have changed colors, Sasuke would have sworn they'd be red.

They'd have more privacy here, even though the falls were deserted right now. He looked at Sasuke, water still spilling over him, washing down his body as if it had the right to touch that pale flesh. They would need it. Fuck yes, they would need it.

Naruto saw Sasuke begin to open his mouth and cut him off again. "Just shut up." He was searching that face, desperately for any hint to stop, for any sign that Sasuke would run.

_Don't tease me, teme. Don't fucking tease me._

All he could see was lust and surprised anger from being held losing its foothold to the desire. His gaze dropped to those lips, pink, full, soft lips that he wanted to—they started to move again. He didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to hear that biting remark that would push him away, telling him to get off, that this wasn't happening.

"Shut up, teme. Just…fuck!"

And he crushed his lips to the Uchiha's.

Naruto devoured, ravaged, plundered, until that mouth—that damnable, tempting mouth—groaned and let him conquer, until he could hear the small growling noises the bastard was making. He ate at those sounds, fed on them, and dove deeper. That taste, god that taste...

Hands twisted into blond hair, angling his head just so and the fight was on.

Teeth and tongues and lips were their weapons, biting, stabbing, sucking at the other's mouth. They fought. They battled. Each strangled moan was a victory. Each hungry growl and breathless little sound that fed them, another triumph.

Hours of frustration, of need, of fear poured into that kiss. Fear that this was happening too fast, was too intense, too emotional for either of them to handle, but Kami-sama it felt good and he didn't want to stop kissing the idiot. He needed those rough, golden hands on his body, touching him, making him burn, making him want so much, so desperately that he could forget everything but _this_.

_Sasuke, fuck, Sasuke…_

One hand rose, tangling into heavy black hair, yanking back hard enough to make the brunet cry out, as his other hand pressed the Uchiha into his fevered body, making them both shudder in pleasure as their clothed cocks slid against each other.

He watched Naruto from half-lidded eyes tilted back by the fist in his hair, watched him try fight for control and hissed. His hips surged forward harshly, making his eyes roll in pleasure—god he was so hard, it hurt, it fucking hurt and he refused to let the one person who could fix this gather his wits about him and walk away, _again_.

"_Naruto…Naru…nnghh…god!"_

Naruto growled, warningly, hungrily, before ripping his mouth off Sasuke's and beginning to attack his jaw, his ears, his throat.

Pleasure. Exquisite, acute pleasure. _"Yesss…."_

"Sasuke…god, Sasuke…what are you doing to me?" Teeth raked over the pale neck, tasting Sasuke and water, making him ache and hunger for more.

"Why? Why the hell do you taste so good, bastard…?" His breathing was ragged, the voice ripped from his throat with emotion. "Why can't I ever get enough of _you_?"

He didn't understand, couldn't understand. He'd been with people twice as long as he'd been with Sasuke and never wanted any of them half as much. Never _needed_ them. But gods, gods! He _needed_ Sasuke. Needed him like he needed his next breath. More.

He'd give up breathing air right now, forever, if it would have meant breathing in Sasuke's scent, tasting that smoky flavor of Sasuke's skin, slightly dangerous and electric and so uniquely Sasuke, or seeing those dark as midnight eyes liquefy and melt in pleasure, hearing those agitated little noises, mewls and pants and moans, of desire spilling from that parted mouth and touching, _fuck_, touching every inch of this lean, gorgeous man he could get his hands on, instead.

He was on his knees before Sasuke—he didn't remember getting down, didn't know when it'd happened—his lips and tongue on Sasuke's stomach, on that beautiful, defined stomach, tracing concentric circles around his navel. Fast…faster…faster! The circles tightened, grew smaller, closer to that enticing valley he couldn't wait to dip his tongue into until he was there, his tongue sliding into that small dip, licking, swirling, teasing with the promise of doing that to his body elsewhere, elsewhere where the pleasure would be so intense that the small shivers of running over Sasuke's body now would seem like child's play.

_I'll make you scream for me_, he'd said, in that voice that could melt steel, before he'd fallen to his knees. _I'll make you feel so good, you'll scream bastard. Believe it._

Fuck. Oh fuck. He did believe it. Sasuke believed it fervently as he bit his lip too keep from crying out the blond's name as another stab of that clever tongue sent a small shudder coursing through him. He didn't understand…Naruto wasn't touching him anywhere interesting, just his navel. His navel, where he'd never have guessed he was so sensitive, somewhere he'd never thought a mere flick of a tongue—oh fuck, just like that!—could almost buckle his knees. It seemed to Sasuke that there had to be some strong, invisible line connecting his belly button to his cock since every lick, every stab, every scrape of that talented tongue made it harden, twitch, jump and leak more. It was unbearable, excruciating, painful pleasure to be this hard, to want this much.

And then he felt those hands, those hands that had been sliding up and down on his cloth covered thighs, that held his hips to keep him from buckling completely, that had slid up and cupped his ass—a rather violent shiver shot through his body at that contact—and pushed him closer to his ravaging mouth, those hands were sliding forward once more, over his hips, fingers trailing just on the edge of his boardshorts, dipping in just the tiniest bit, scraping gently at the sensitive skin there, drawing closer together, making him breathe harder with every inch they covered, until they reached the tie in the center. The tie that was straining to stay flush against his body and losing the battle to his angry, throbbing erection.

Naruto didn't ask, he didn't really need to, his fingers just went quickly to work, pulling the loose bow free, snapping open the strip of Velcro—the sound was loud and out of place in their oasis behind the waterfall, but still sent a shiver of anticipation through them both—and parted the cloth.

Sasuke closed his eyes and shook almost violently with the intensity of the thoughts, the feelings that assailed him as Naruto kissed his navel one last time. He felt the blond pull his head back and almost whimpered at the loss of contact.

_Naruto…Naruto, don't go! _His eyes were wild, he knew, as he looked down at the blond. Irrational with his fear, with his longing that had no name.

_I need…I want…dobe…gods Naruto…what…what is this?_

He saw them there, the emotions, those confusing, frightening things that were whipping through his mind, through his heart like a tempest; he saw them reflected in the Prussian blue staring up at him.

He couldn't look away from Sasuke's eyes, from the wicked need he saw there, the fragile vulnerability and that spine-tingling sense of inevitability. He felt it too. The rightness of this, of _them_, together. It was so right, so perfect, it seemed almost wrong.

_Sasuke…_

Thumbs rubbed small, unsteady circles on his hip bones, just inside the parted cloth. He was being given an out he knew, one final chance to back away and escape the intense_…connection_…that seemed to flow between them. And he saw the effort it was costing Naruto to keep his hands there instead of letting them wonder, to keep his gaze locked on his own instead of looking down.

Naruto, loud, brash, cocky Naruto, who said what he meant and did what he wanted, who didn't give up or take no for an answer, who had the body of a god and could have anyone, anywhere if he wanted, was on his knees in a shallow pool, up to his hips in water, with mist like rain trailing rivers down his body wanting _him_, wanting him with a desperation that was making him shake, and yet willing to let him walk away if he needed to.

And deep inside Sasuke, the tumblers on the lock to his heart turned.

"_Teme_…" The word was raw and filled with need. Naruto couldn't take this anymore. His hands started to pull away when he heard Sasuke speak.

"_Naruto…_"

_Just…just don't let go…_

He didn't have to say it; Naruto could hear the unspoken words clearly.

_I won't, teme. I couldn't, even if I wanted to…_

He wasn't sure if Naruto meant physically or something else. He wasn't quite sure what he'd meant himself. But really, it didn't matter. He trusted him.

Sighing, Sasuke finally closed his eyes and let himself be swept into sensation.

_Touch me, Naruto….taste me…_

So he did, those bright blue eyes finally fell from that perfect face that had imprinted itself on his mind, his heart, his soul and found his prize escaping from its cloth confines.

Fuck, he was beautiful. He had no right to be this beautiful, this pale, this long, this hard. He had no right to be that and not have been in his life sooner.

And that thought, the thought that he was finally, _finally,_ getting to touch Sasuke again made him growl and nip the bastard hard on his hip as his hands began to move.

Fuck. Oh fuck that sound, that purely animalistic sound coming from Naruto was so hot. And the teeth, oh god, the teeth on his skin.

Sasuke moaned and thrust his hips up.

Blue fire flared in his eyes and Naruto's patience, his gentleness, vanished on the whirlwind of need caused by that sound. His fingers wrapped around that straining cock and pumped down hard, once, twice.

"Ngghhh!" Sasuke bucked, the cry falling from unbidden.

Naruto licked his lips, his grin vulpine as he slid fingers inside the cloth in his way and _scraped_ down.

_FUCK!_

Sasuke's head fell back with a strangled cry as fire coursed down his thighs, blending pain and pleasure in a heady mix that made it hard to stand.

_You'll scream for me yet, bastard, just wait._

In a soothing contrast though, his lips kissed slowly up the four lines his finger nails had made than ran nearly from hip to knee as he lifted first one, then the other of Sasuke's legs to free him from the shorts that floated uselessly on the water around them.

He crawled forward, pushing Sasuke back gently until he was leaning on the canyon wall for support. If he did his job right, Sasuke would need all the support he could get.

"Watch," Naruto commanded softly, his lips sliding over a hipbone now, drawing closer to his arousal.

"Hn." But onyx eyes followed the blond nonetheless, mesmerized by erotic sight.

Naruto smiled into the deep indent of Sasuke's 'V' muscles. Gods, the bastard was sexy. It was unreal.

Sasuke shivered. Mmm. He was so close now, so close he could feel Naruto's breath ghosting over his weeping cock. Just a little more, dobe. Just…_huh?_

Naruto rolled his eyes up at the little mewl he heard. He barely restrained the chuckle at the look in those midnight eyes when he'd moved onto his other hipbone instead of down to that blushing, pink cock.

_Patience, teme. Patience. I want to savor you._

There was that look again, that look Sasuke remembered from the poker game, as if he were staring at something precious…important… His breath hitched, just the tiniest bit, at that look.

Naruto licked and lapped at the skin of that pale hip, nibbling, the taste of Sasuke exploding on his tongue, subtly richer, more intense the lower he went. His eyes were riveted now on the flushed, column of skin he kept drawing closer to.

His hand trailed lazy patterns on a pale thigh. It bobbed softly. His teeth nipped taut muscle. It jumped, nearly thumping against Sasuke's abs. He drew a patch of skin into his mouth and sucked insistently, branding Sasuke. He heard a moan and watched fascinated as a bead of pre-cum formed at the tip.

_Like that, did you, teme?_

He didn't know why. He hated hickies, hated marks on his body. But watching Naruto suck the skin at his hip, branding him possessively had Sasuke's eyes rolling into the back of his head. "_Naruto…_"

_Oh god, teme, don't do that! I can't deny you anything when you say my name like that. _

Naruto groaned, giving up all pretenses, as his mouth and hand finally reached Sasuke's leaking erection.

Fingers trailed up that smooth, velvety skin, so hot, so hard, for _him_. He could feel Sasuke watching him, his breath slightly labored. Slowly, he wrapped his fingers around Sasuke's base, holding him steady, still fascinated by the contrasting sight of his hand on that pale, pink skin.

The hiss of pleasure sped his pulse. Naruto looked up, meeting that dark, intense gaze. Holding Sasuke's eyes, he ran his tongue slowly up that thick, blue vein, over the ridge and finally, finally dipped into that weeping slit and tasted him.

"Ohhh…fuck." Yes. Gods yes, that's what he wanted. He arched his hips forward, his cock grazing a scarred cheek.

Naruto moaned. Holy fucking hell, he was doomed. He'd never get enough of Sasuke now. That taste, that slightly salty, slightly acrid, completely addictive, dangerous taste was burned into his tongue as the hottest thing he'd ever tasted.

He wanted more.

He wanted it all.

He wanted it now.

He growled, low, menacing when Sasuke's hips moved. They thrust again at the sound, followed by a hungry little noise. His hands slid back up to grip lean hips. He licked his lips, eyes darting to Sasuke's again, and, giving him no warning, swallowed him whole.

"AHHH!"

_Told you so._

The scream was torn from his throat by the sudden sensation of hot, wet heat surrounding his cock. Oh Kami-sama, he could feel the gripping tightness of a muscled throat pulsing gently around him as Naruto fought not to breathe. Fuck. _Fuck!_

As he stared into those pools of blue, Sasuke had to fight every instinct he had screaming at him to thrust into tight throat. "_Nar…Naruto_…gods…."

Then those dark pink lips wrapped around him and that blond head began to move.

"Nnnnngggghhh!"

He scrabbled for purchase against the rocks behind him, needing something, anything to help him stay upright as pure, carnal lust bubbled through his system. _Naruto…_

When the idiot started humming around his cock, Sasuke screamed again and almost fell.

Naruto's eyes sparkled in wicked delight at the fact. The soft chuckle though had Sasuke whimpering as his eyes crossed in ecstasy.

He played with the bastard, watching Sasuke watch him, driving him slowly crazy as he teased and licked and flicked around the head, letting his tongue lap at the little pearls of pre-cum, while his fingers jerked him slowly. When Sasuke started shaking, he moved lower, kissing, laving the shaft between his sliding fingers and then lower still, drawing first one, then the other of the teme's balls between his lips, sucking, rolling them around until Sasuke screamed again.

_You taste so good, bastard…You feel so good…Mmm…_

And then Sasuke, somewhere in his sensory overloaded mind, decided that he shouldn't be greedy.

"MMMPPPHH!"

Naruto moan-screamed around the cock in his mouth as he felt Sasuke's shin press into his own throbbing erection.

_God bastard, what are you… FUCK!_

He wasn't given time to think as that leg started moving against him, providing the sweet, harsh friction his cock had been crying out for.

Oh gods. Oh gods. Oh gods. _Sasuke!_

His mouth sped up, matching the feverish pace Sasuke was setting. Up. Down. Up. Down. Faster. Faster.

His tongue swirled at the end of every upstroke, darting into that weeping slit, causing Sasuke to buck into his mouth despite the hands that pinned his hips.

_Sasuke, fuck! _

"_Naruto…Naruto…" _It became a litany, the only word he remembered as the pleasure started building. Each swell grew larger, stronger, looming just out of reach... "_Na…ru...to…"_

He focused on sucking, swallowing, and taking that gorgeous cock to the hilt until his nose buried into black curls and he inhaled the musky, concentrated scent of Sasuke. He was trying desperately not to think about that leg moving over him, against him making his hands curl into those pale hips until he was sure indents of his nails were scored into Sasuke.

"Nnnggh…_Naruto_…oh gods…close…nngghh…" Dark locks thrashed from side to side as Sasuke tried to twist, to buck, to do something to ease the pressure.

Naruto could feel the erratic thrusting of Sasuke's hips against his hands.

_Come for me, bastard. Let me taste you._

When he scored his nails down the inside of pale thighs, the reaction was immediate.

"NARUUTOOO!"

And Sasuke was coming, screaming around the sudden pleasure that ripped through him like lightening, spilling burst after burst of white, hot cum down Naruto's throat.

He swallowed it all, reveling in the taste of Sasuke as he watched that dark head fall back in ecstasy, a dark blush painting his cheeks, lips parted, panting, the expression on his face so like the one in the waterfall earlier that had blown his mind.

And he knew, knew in that moment that no matter what happened between them, he would be forever haunted by this sight. This perfect, gorgeous sight of _Sasuke _coming.

And that sight was what finally ripped the orgasm from his body with a scream of Sasuke's name.

TBC


End file.
